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THE 

DOCTRINE  OF  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE  IN  THE 

LIGHT  OF  EXPERIMENTAL  INVESTIGATION 


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Eiiitfb  hy  (Suy  Mantraei  UljippU 
No.  16 


The 

Doctrine  of  Formal  Discipline  in  the 

Light  of  Experimental  Investigation 


BY 

Nellie  P.  Hewins,  Ph.D.,  Pd.D. 

New  York  University 
Instructor  in  Biology,  Newton  High  School,  New  York  City 


BALTIMORE: 

WARWICK  &  YORK,  Inc. 
1916 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
Warwick  &  Yore,  Inc. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE 

The  chief  problems  of  educational  psychology  evi- 
dently include  the  nature  of  mental  endowment,  or 
the  original  nature  of  man,  the  nature  of  the  learning 
process  and  the  nature  of  training.  The  last-named 
issue  has  occasioned  within  the  last  decade  a  quite 
unusual  amount  of  debate,  for,  on  the  one  hand,  its 
outcome  is  of  the  first  importance  for  educational 
theory,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  its  solution,  on  ac- 
count of  the  complexity  of  the  questions  involved,  is 
far  from  being  obvious  or  simple.  Not  long  ago,  as  a 
result  of  the  earlier  experimental  studies,  it  was  felt 
by  many  that  transfer  of  training  was  present  either 
not  at  all  or  at  least  in  such  slight  amounts  as  to  be 
negligible.  More  recently,  the  pendulum  has  certainly 
swung  in  the  other  direction.  Experimentation  has 
been  directed  less  toward  searching  for  the  existence 
of  transfer  than  to  searching  for  the  kind  of  transfer 
present  and  the  conditions  under  which  it  appeared. 
One  factor  in  this  shift  of  attack  upon  the  problem  as 
a  whole  has  been  the  conviction  that  experimentation 
conducted  upon  children  still  in  their  formative  years 
and  under  the  more  natural  conditions  of  their  every- 
day life  might  very  well  reveal  the  presence  of  formal 
training  that  could  not  be  demonstrated  with  adults 
in  the  psychological  laboratory. 

The  work  presented  by  Dr.  Hewins  in  the  present 
monograph  will  be  found  closely  similar  in  general 
conception  to  that  presented  by  Dr.  Rugg  in  his  recent 
monograph.  In  conjunction  with  the  laboratory 
testing  of  children  reported  in  our  series  by  Dr.  Wang, 


Vi  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

these  monographs  are  bound  to  exert  a  considerable 
mfluence  upon  current  thinking  as  to  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  transfer  of  training. 

Dr.  Hewins'  summary  of  previous  work  upon  the 
problem  will  prove  most  helpful  to  students.  Her 
own  experiments  have  the  particular  merit  of  being 
readily  repeated  by  classroom  teachers  in  the  same 

field. 

G.  M.  W. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction 1 

Part  I.     Historical 

I.     Aims  of  Investigators 4 

Psychological 4 

1.  Experiments  on  the  effect  of  training  of  one  kind 

of  sensitiveness  on  other  kinds  of  sensitive- 
ness        4 

2.  Experiments  on  the  accuracy  of  voluntary  ef- 

fort and  the  effect  of  special  training  on  the 
general  rapidity  and  accuracy  of  motor  ad- 
justments        5 

3.  Experiments  on  the  effect  of  special  training  on 

the  general  rapidity  and  accuracy  of  memor- 


izmg 


5 


4.  Experiments  on  cross-education  or  the  transfer- 
ence of  practice  from  one  member  to  a  sym- 
metrical one 6 

Pedagogical 7 

II.     Means,    Methods,    Results   and   Conclusions   of  Experi- 
mental Investigations 9 

Psychological   Experiments 10 

1.  Effect  of  training  of  one  kind  of  sensitiveness 

on  other  kinds 10 

2.  Experiments  on  the  accuracy  of  voluntary  effort 

and  the  effect  of  special  training  on  the  gen- 
eral rapidity  and  accuracy  of  motor  adjust- 
ments      15 

3.  Experiments  on  the  effect  of  special  training  on 

the  general  rapidity  and  accuracy  of  mcmor- 


izmg. 


25 


4.  Data  derived  from  experimentation  in  regard 
to  the  effect  of  the  training  of  one  organ  upon 
the  bilaterally  symmetrical  one,  or  closely 
related  member 28 


vn 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

Pedagogical  Experiments 31 

1.  Mathematics 31 

2.  Spelling 36 

3.  English    Grammar 36 

4.  Mental  Traits 37 

A.  Memory 37 

B.  Habits 42 

C.  Concentration  of  attention 42 

D.  Observation 43 

E.  Quickness,  accuracy,  attention,  etc 43 

F.  Ideas  of  Method 44 

G.  Ideals 44 

III.     Summary  of  the  Historical  Review 46 

Part  II.    Original  Investigation 

I.     Introduction 49 

II.     Subjects 50 

III.  Time  Schedule  of  Tests 50 

IV.  Practice  Series 51 

V.     Method  of  Conducting  the  Tests 52 

VI.     Details  of  the  Tests 53 

VII.     Marking  the  Tests  and  Use  of  the  Scores 71 

VIII.     Tables  and  summaries 74 

CoNCLrrsiONS Ill 

Comparison  of  Results  with  Those  of  Pedagogical  Experi- 
ments    113 

Bibliography 115 

Appendix 119 


The  Doctrine  of  Formal  Discipline  in  the  Light 
of  Experimental  Investigation 


INTRODUCTION 

It  would  seem  to  be  entirely  superfluous  to  explain 
what  is  meant  by  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline, 
for  since  the  epoch-making  experiments  of  James 
(25,  54)1  a  Httle  more  than  a  decade  ago,  this  theory 
has  occupied  the  center  of  the  controversial  stage  of 
pedagogical  problems.  Since  the  Middle  Ages,  when 
the  doctrine  flourished  in  justification  of  the  classical 
learning,  or  even  from  earher  times  as  claimed  by 
Locke  (31)  in  his  statement  "Formal  discipline  has 
been  invoked  from  Plato's  time  to  the  present  as  a 
defense  of  the  courses  in  mathematics,"  the  theory  of 
formal  discipline  has  been  held  as  almost  axiomatic, 
but  with  the  abandonment  of  the  old  "faculty"  psy- 
chology, it  has  lost  its  main  prop  and  its  subsequent 
subjection  to  experimental  investigation  has  left  the 
theory  on  a  somewhat  unstable  foundation.  We  can- 
not establish  the  truth  or  the  falsity  of  the  doctrine 
on  a  priori  grounds  in  this  scientific  age,  but  must 
subject  it  to  many  careful,  scientifically  conducted 
and  controlled  experiments  covering  a  wide  range  of 
school  subjects  and  performed  with  school  children  of 
various  ages,  grades,  mental  attainments,  and  environ- 
ments; for  its  reliability  cannot  be  based  longer  upon 

1  Reference  numbers  in  parentheses  refer  to  the  bibhography  at  the 
end  of  the  book. 


2  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

psychological  experiments,  pure  and  simple,  per- 
formed upon  a  few  adults  in  college  laboratories  with 
complex  apparatus. 

The  experimental  investigations  until  within  the 
last  few  years  have  been  mainly  psychological,  con- 
ducted by  professors  of  colleges  with  college  or  uni- 
versity students  or  instructors  as  subjects,  neces- 
sarily few  in  number;  and  only  recently  have  tests 
been  made  with  school  children.  Of  these,  a  small 
number  have  been  tried  in  this  country,  and  they  have 
been  for  the  most  part  confined  to  the  elementary 
schools.  Judd  (28)  describes  formal  discipline  as  the 
''great  problem  of  High-School  education."  The  sub- 
jects of  the  elementary  school  are  studied  mainly  for 
their  content  value  and  their  practical  relationship  to 
the  future  normal  life  of  the  child  fitted  for  the  de- 
mands of  his  environment.  Grammar  may  be  a  pos- 
sible exception,  although  this  should  be  taught  from 
the  standpoint  of  improving  the  child's  English, 
rather  than  as  a  mental  discipline.  In  the  high  school, 
however,  nearly  every  study  claims  as  one  of  the  best 
reasons  for  its  introduction  into,  or  continuance  in,  the 
course  of  study,  some  definite  mental  training  which 
will  carry  over  into  other  walks  of  life,  however  re- 
motely related.  Mathematics  is  said  to  train  the  reason- 
ing powers,  science  the  observational  abilities,  liter- 
ature and  history  the  imagination,  etc.  Thus  we  can 
agree  with  Judd  (28)  that  the  "final  answer  of  the 
question  will  relate  to  the  work  of  the  High  School." 
We  must  not  argue  or  speculate  about  the  matter, 
but  we  must  investigate  these  claims  for  the  various 
studies  and  support  them  by  definite  tests  or  refute 
them  by  similar  carefully  conducted  and  controlled 
experiments.     Many    experiments    will    be    required 


INTRODUCTION  *  6 

upon  all  the  subjects  and  under  varying  conditions, 
before  we  can  generalize  scientifically  as  to  the  validity 
of  the  doctrine.  But  with  the  question  of  the  value 
of  the  disciplinary  view  of  the  studies  in  the  balance, 
it  would  be  well  to  look  to  the  content  side  until  such 
time  as  the  theory  has  been  definitely  proved  or  dis- 
proved. Burt's  (10)  advice  is  to  "emphasize  and 
extend  the  elements  shared  by  the  curriculum  and  the 
conditions  of  school  in  common  with  the  conditions 
and  requirements  of  life." 

The  experiments  performed  and  described  by  the 
author  have  been  undertaken  with  the  object  of  con- 
tributing a  mite  to  the  countless  ones  necessary  to 
determine  the  validity  or  falsity  of  the  disciplinary 
conception,  especially  as  applied  to  high-school  sub- 
jects. 


PART  I.    HISTORICAL. 

I.  Aims  of  Investigators. 

Reviewing  the  experimental  researches  on  this 
topic,  we  find  that  while  the  aims  of  the  investigators 
have  been  manifold,  they  may  be  grouped  under  sev- 
eral main  divisions.  First,  we  may  classify  them  as 
primarily  psychological  or  primarily  pedagogical. 

Psychological. 

1.  Experiments  on  the  effect  of  training  of  one  kind 
of  sensitiveness  on  other  kinds  of  sensitiveness.  These 
include  those  of  Bennett  (6)  to  test  the  effect  on  dis- 
crimination of  length  by  the  eye  as  a  result  of  practice 
in  discriminating  length  by  arm^mov  ements;  those  of 
Wallin  (58,  60)  to  attempt  to  control  the  reversions 
in  a  number  of  reversible  perspective  outlines;  those 
of  Seashore  and  Jenner  (42)  on  the  training  of  the 
voice  by  the  aid  of  the  eye  in  singing;  those  of  Coover 
and  Angell  (12)  to  test  the  general  practice  effect  of 
special  exercise,  including  experiments  on  the  transfer 
of  practice  effects  in  sound  to  light  discriminations, 
and  the  transference  of  practice  in  sorting  cards  to 
"typewriter  reactions";  those  of  Thorndike  and 
Woodworth  (53)  on  the  effects  of  practice  in  estimating 
length  of  lines  on  estimating  length  of  lines,  areas, 
and  weights;  on  the  effects  of  practice  in  picking  out 
and  marking  words  of  some  one  special  sort  on  the 
observation  of  words  containing  certain  combinations 
of  letters  and  picking  out  and  marking  certain  letters; 
and  those  of  Urbantshitsch   (56)    on   the  effects  of 


AIMS   OF   INVESTIGATORS  5 

practice    with    sound    stimuli    on    tactual,  gustatory, 
olfactory,  and  visual  stimuli. 

2.  Experiments  on  the  accuracy  of  voluntary  effort 
and  the  effect  of  special  training  on  the  general  rapidity 
and  accuracy  of  motor  adjustments.  These  experi- 
ments include  those  of  Davis  (14)  to  test  the  accuracy 
of  voluntary  effort  in  lunging  at  a  target,  those  of 
Jastrow  (27)  to  test  quickness  of  response  to  touch 
and  visual  stimuH;  those  of  Gilbert  and  Fracker 
(reviewed  by  Thorndike,  54)  to  test  quickness  in 
moving  the  finger  at  a  given  signal;  those  of  Swift 
(52)  to  test  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  the  complex 
muscular  act  of  keeping  three  balls  in  the  air,  and  in 
typewriting;  those  of  Judd  (2)  to  test  the  influence  of 
training  in  the  judgment  of  direction  of  lines,  and  the 
transfer  of  practice  in  the  Miiller-Lyer  illusion;  those 
of  Foster  (18)  to  test  the  effect  of  practice  upon  visual- 
izing and  upon  the  reproduction  of  visual  impressions; 
those  of  Whipple  (62)  to  test  the  effect  of  practice 
upon  the  range  of  visual  attention  and  visual  appre- 
hension; those  of  Bergstrom  (7)  on  sorting  cards, 
wherein  was  tested  the  interference  of  habits  formed 
with  ability  to  perform  opposite  acts;  those  of  Bair 
(21,  54)  to  test  effects  of  special  training  on  general 
power  to  meet  new  situations;  those  of  Miinsterberg 
(21,  35)  to  test  whether  a  habit  associated  with  a 
given  sensory  stimulus  can  continue  automatically, 
while  some  effect  of  a  previous  and  different  habit 
associated  with  the  same  stimulus  remains;  those  of 
Ruger  (41)  to  test  the  transfer  of  specific  motor  habits. 

3.  Experiments  on  the  effect  of  special  training  on 
the  general  rapidity  arid  accuracy  of  memorizing.  Here 
are  included  those  of  James  (21,  25,  54)  to  test  improve- 
ment in  memory  after  special  training  in  memorizing 


6  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

poetry;  those  of  Ebert  and  Meumann  (2,  21)  to  test 
the  effect  of  practice  in  memorizing  meaningless 
syllables  on  the  power  of  immediate  recall  and  reten- 
tion of  numbers,  letters,  monosyllabic  nouns,  words  of 
Italian  prose  and  poetry,  visual  signs,  etc.;  those  of 
Fracker  (19,  21)  to  test  the  effect  of  practice  in  memor- 
izing four  tones  on  memorizing  poetry,  four  shades 
of  gray,  nine  geometrical  figures,  nine  numbers,  extent 
of  arm  movements,  etc.;  those  of  Jansen  (26)  to  test 
similar  points  to  those  of  Prof.  Meumann;  those  of 
Bennett  (6)  to  test  the  effect  of  practice  in  memorizing 
poetry  on  memorizing  rows  of  figures  and  names  of 
places;  those  of  Thorndike  and  Woodworth  (21,  53)  to 
test  the  influence  of  special  training  in  memorizing  on 
the  general  ability  to  memorize. 

4.  Experiments  on  cross-education  or  the  transference 
of  practice  from  one  member  to  a  symmetrical  one.  These 
comprise  those  of  Davis  (14,  54)  to  test  transference 
of  motor  ability  from  the  practised  right  hand  to  the 
unpractised  left  in  lunging  at  a  target;  those  of  Scrip- 
ture (44)  to  test  transference  of  ability  from  the  right 
hand  practised  on  a  mercury  dynamometer  to  the 
unpractised  left  hand;  those  of  Scripture,  Smith,  and 
Brown  (45,  54)  to  show  transfer  from  the  right  hand, 
practised  on  inserting  a  needle  into  a  hole  without 
touching  the  sides,  to  the  unpractised  left  hand;  those 
of  Raif  (37,  44),  who  performed  similar  experiments 
in  piano  playing;  those  of  Wallin  (58,  60)  to  attempt 
to  control  the  reversions  in  a  number  of  reversible 
perspective  outlines,  in  which  he  found  that  practice 
with  one  eye  afforded  practice  for  the  other  unused 
eye;  those  of  Volkmann  (21,  54),  reviewed  by  Hender- 
son and  Thorndike,  showing  the  effect  of  practice  in 
training  the  sensitiveness  of  the  skin  of  the  left  arm, 


AIMS   OF   INVESTIGATOES  7 

upon  the  right  arm;  those  of  Swift  (52)  to  test  the 
acquisition  of  skill  in  the  complex  muscular  act  of 
tossing  three  balls,  in  which  he  found  that  practice 
transferred  from  the  right  to  the  left  hand;  those  of 
Starch  (50),  who  found  in  the  experiment  of  tracing 
the  outline  of  a  six-pointed  star  as  seen  in  a  mirror 
that  improvement  was  transferred  from  the  left  to 
the  right  hand;  those  of  Davis  (14,  54)  to  show  the 
transfer  of  tapping  ability  with  the  toe  of  one  foot 
to  the  unpractised  toe  and  to  show  the  increase  in 
girth  of  the  right  arm  and  the  left  arm  through  lifting 
a  weight  with  the  right  arm;  and  those  of  Woodworth 
(54)  showing  a  transfer  of  practice  in  hitting  a  dot 
with  the  right  hand  to  the  unpractised  left. 

Pedagogical. 

In  the  pedagogical  field,  the  aims  of  the  experi- 
mental investigations  have  been  more  limited.  The 
experiments  with  school  children  have  been  confined 
to  few  school  subjects  and  few  mental  abilities.  Miss 
Aiken's  (1)  pioneer  experiments,  described  in  1896, 
and  her  astounding  results  argue  well  for  the  validity 
of  the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline.  Recently,  Dal- 
lenbach  (13)  has  made  Aiken's  experiments,  together 
with  the  laboratory  studies  of  Whipple  (62)  and  of 
Foster  (18)  on  visualization,  the  basis  of  an  exhaustive 
scientific  test  on  elementary  school-children.  His 
results  tend  to  support  those  of  INIiss  Aiken  and  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  experiments  -wdth  adults  are  not 
reliable  tests  of  what  occurs  with  school-children. 

Pedagogical  experiments  relating  to  this  topic  may 
be  grouped  under  those  concerned  with  college  stu- 
dents and  those  concerned  with  school  children.  The 
school    subjects    utilized    for    investigatory    purposes 


8  THE   DOCTKINE    OF   FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

have  been  arithmetic,  spelUng,  and  grammar  and  the 
mental  abiUties,  memory,  habits,  and  ideals.  Arith- 
metical experiments  with  college  students  include 
those  of  Starch  (49)  to  test  the  transfer  of  training  in 
arithmetical  operations;  those  of  Lewis  (30)  and  Collins 
(11)  to  ascertain  the  relation  between  mathematics 
and  general  reasoning;  and  those  of  Rietz  and  Shade 
(38)  to  discover  the  correlation  of  efficiency  in  mathe- 
matics and  in  other  studies,  while  with  elementary  or 
high-school  pupils  Winch  (67,  68)  has  experimented 
to  discover  if  improvement  in  numerical  accuracy 
transfers,  Lewis  (30)  has  found  interesting  data  in 
regard  to  the  relation  between  mathematical  and 
practical  reasoning,  and  Stone  (51)  has  tested  the 
relation  between  distinctive  procedures  in  arithmetic 
work  and  the  resulting  abilities.  Wallin  (59)  has 
tested  elementary  pupils  to  ascertain  if  spelling  ef- 
ficiency acquired  in  column  drill  transfers  to  dictated 
compositions,  and  Briggs  (9)  has  investigated  the 
disciplinary  effects  of  formal  English  grammar. 

With  reference  to  mental  abilities,  memory  has  re- 
ceived most  attention,  although  reason  has  been  given 
some  attention,  as  in  the  experiments  of  Lewis  and 
Collins,  cited  above.  College  students  have  been 
used  by  Sleight  for  experimentation  in  regard  to  the 
transfer  of  memory,  while  elementary  pupils  have 
been  made  subjects  of  investigation  by  Winch  to  test 
immediate  memory,  both  visual  and  auditory,  and  to 
test  the  transfer  of  improvement  in  memory;  and  by 
Sleight  (46,  47)  to  ascertain  if  memory  training  is 
general  or  specific. 

The  effect  of  special  habits  on  the  general  conduct 
or  habits  of  school  children  has  been  tested  by  Squire 
(3)  and  by  Ruediger  (40).  Squire's  aim  was  to  test 
the  transfer  of  neatness  and  accuracy  in  arithmetic 


AIMS   OF  INVESTIGATORS  9 

papers  to  other  school  subjects,  while  that  of  Ruediger 
was  to  test  the  influence  of  ideals  of  neatness  in  im- 
proving the  written  work  of  the  7th-grade  school 
children.  Judd  (2)  in  his  target  experiment  has  demon- 
strated the  value  of  a  recognized  method. 

There  is  urgent  need  for  investigation  in  regard  to 
other  school  subjects  and  other  mental  powers  if  the 
problem  is  to  be  solved  satisfactorily,  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  experiments  may  be  undertaken  by  the 
classroom  teacher,  drilled  in  the  methods  of  experi- 
mental pedagogy,  for  only  then  will  there  be  sufficient 
trained  investigators  and  optimal  conditions  for  work 
that  may  produce  unassailable  conclusions. 

II.  Means,   Methods,   Results   and   Conclusions 
OF  Experimental  Investigations. 

The  means  employed  by  the  various  investigators 
have  been  almost  as  numerous  as  their  aims.  Under 
this  heading  are  included  apparatus  and  materials 
used  and  the  subjects  of  the  investigation.  In  many 
cases,  especially  in  the  psychological  experiments, 
the  apparatus  has  been  quite  complicated,  while  the 
subjects  have  been  generally  few  in  number  and  usually 
those  possessing  psychologically  trained  minds.  The 
same  is  true  of  several  of  the  pedagogical  experiments, 
while,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  few  school  chil- 
dren, especially  in  this  country,  have  been  used  as 
reagents. 

As  widely  different  as  are  the  aims  and  materials 
of  the  many  investigators  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline,  just  as  widely  divergent  are  the  methods 
pursued. 

The  results  and  conclusions  obtained  will  warrant 
a  separation  of  the  investigators  into  two  groups — 
those  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  and  those  opposed. 


10  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

Psychological  Experiments. 

1.  Effect  of  training  of  one  kind  of  sensitiveness  on 
other  kinds.  The  apparatus  used  by  Bennett  (6)  in 
discrimination  of  length  by  the  eye  as  a  result  of  prac- 
tice in  discriminating  length  by  the  knowledge  gained 
from  arm-movements,  consisted  of  2  parallel,  hori- 
zontal, steel  rods,  2  feet  long  and  13^  inches  apart. 
On  the  lower  rod  were  two  spools  fixed  immovably 
25  cm.  apart,  and  on  the  upper  rod  were  two  spools 
which  were  freely  movable.  In  the  training  the  two 
subjects  were  required  to  move  the  two  movable 
spools  on  the  upper  rod  to  equate  their  distance  to 
that  of  the  immovable  spools  on  the  lower  rod,  through 
the  sensation  derived  by  arm-movement.  The  final 
tests  w^ere  visual  estimates  of  length.  The  result  of  the 
experiment  was  negative;  one  subject  showed  improve- 
ment, but  the  other  an  equal  degree  of  lack  of  im- 
provement. 

In  the  experiments  of  Wallin  (58)  to  attempt  to 
control  the  reversions  in  a  number  of  reversible  per- 
spective outlines,  the  apparatus  consisted  of  drawings 
of  a  parallelopiped,  a  book,  a  table,  and  a  pyramid. 
Two  subjects  practiced  in  attempting  to  envisage 
uniformly  the  infrequent  or  non-predominant  per- 
spective, in  all  cases  monocularly.  Wallin  found  that 
perspectivity  was  subject  to  a  high  degree  of  practice 
control.  In  9,24G  trials,  the  per  cent,  of  successful 
control  in  three  groups  amounted  to  40,  G2,  and  82. 
There  was  an  average  gain  of  42  per  cent,  between  the 
first  and  last  20  days  of  the  series.  He  also  found 
that  the  practice  effects  were  transferred  to  the  un- 
practised eye.  "In  a  given  series  of  experiments  in 
which  the  figures  were  reversed  in  the  direct  and 
indirect  visual  fields,  it  appeared  that  the  reversions 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  11 

occurred  about  2]/^  times  faster  when  the  figures  were 
directly  regarded  instead  of  being  seen  by  the  peri- 
pheral retina.  But  after  practice  with  certain  figures, 
it  sometimes  happened  that  the  figures  reversed  most 
readily  when  a  point  outside  the  figures  was  fixated." 
This  furnishes  an  instance  of  the  transference  to  the 
peripheral  retina  of  fixation  motives  attaching  to  the 
fovea.  Here  an  acquired  foveal  disposition  spread  to 
the  adjacent  retinal  elements,  or  the  foveal  tendency 
was  transmuted  into  a  "generalized  retinal  habit." 

Seashore  and  Jenner's  (42)  experiments  on  the 
training  of  the  voice  by  the  aid  of  the  eye  in  singing, 
made  use  of  the  voice  tonoscope.  Each  of  the  six 
observers  sang  before  the  speaking  tube.  The  tests 
were  divided  into:  (1)  accuracy  in  striking  a  required 
pitch,  (2)  the  least  producible  change  in  pitch  (minimal 
change).  The  preliminary  practice  was  given  with 
six  observers.  Each  period  of  practice  consisted  of 
160  trials,  which  took  about  45  minutes.  Tests  were 
given  for  12  days;  the  first  5  days  "without  aid," 
the  singer  depended  entirely  on  the  ear;  and  the  next 
5  days  with  aid,  that  is,  the  record  was  read  from  the 
tonoscope  in  each  trial ;  the  eleventh  day  the  record  was 
taken  without  aid  again;  and  the  record  of  the  twelfth 
day  was  taken  with  the  aid.  Their  conclusions  per- 
tinent to  the  topic  in  hand  are:  (1)  "The  aid  enhances 
the  ability  to  strike  a  tone  which  has  been  heard." 
There  was  42  per  cent,  superiority  of  the  aided  series 
over  the  unaided.  (2)  "The  aid  enhances  the  ability 
to  sing  an  interval."  The  aided  series  was  superior 
to  the  unaided  50  per  cent,  in  singing  a  major  third, 
50  per  cent,  in  singing  a  fifth,  and  60  per  cent,  in  sing- 
ing an  octave.  (3)  The  voluntary  control  of  the 
pitch  of  the  voice  is  improved  26  per  cent,  by  the  aid. 


12  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

(4)  "There  is  probably  some  transfer  of  gain  from  the 
aided    training    to    the    following    unaided    singing." 

(5)  "There  is  no  evidence  of  the  transfer  of  gain  in 
the  accuracy  of  the  memory  image."  (6)  "The  gain 
in  the  discriminative  control  of  the  pitch  of  the  voice 
is  fully  transferred.  (7)  "Improvements  in  the  ability 
to  strike  a  tone,  or  an  interval,  and  the  ability  to 
produce  a  minimal  change  are  very  much  more  pro- 
nounced and  more  rapid  in  the  aided  than  in  the 
unaided  series."  These  seven  points  show  that  "by 
the  use  of  the  tonoscope  we  facilitate  in  a  decided 
manner  the  abihty  to  sing  in  true  pitch  and  the  im- 
provement is  almost  immediate."  (8)  It  seems  prob- 
able "that  a  higher  degree  of  accuracy  of  pitch  in 
singing  may  be  attained  by  aiding  the  ear  in  the  train- 
ing than  would  be  possible  to  attain  without  such 
aid." 

Coover's  and  Angell's  (12)  investigations  to  test 
the  general  practice  effect  of  special  exercise  included 
experiments  on  the  transfer  of  practice  effects  in 
sound  to  light  discriminations  and  the  transfer  of 
practice  in  card-sorting  to  "typewriter  reactions." 
In  the  former  experiment,  four  reagents  were  trained 
by  means  of  a  sound  pendulum  in  discrimination  of 
intensities  of  sound  for  17  days  during  a  period  of  57 
days,  and  each  reagent  made  40  judgments  in  each 
day's  training.  Before  and  after  training,  the  reagents 
were  tested  in  the  discrimination  of  shades  of  gray. 
Each  test  consisted  of  three  series,  of  35  judgments 
each,  dehvered  on  three  separate  days.  Control 
reagents  were  given  the  tests.  It  was  found  that 
there  was  an  improvement  in  three  of  the  trained  sub- 
jects of  7,  5,  and  15  per  cent,  respectively,  but  a 
failiu-e  in  one  of  them;  the  control  reagents  showed  a 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  13 

loss  in  discriminative  ability  in  the  final  tests.  Coover 
and  Angell  concluded  that  the  ''improvement  seems 
to  consist  of  divesting  the  essential  process  of  the  un- 
essential factors,"  that  "efficiency  of  sensible  dis- 
crimination acquired  by  training  with  sound  stimuli 
has  been  transferred  to  the  efficiency  of  discriminating 
brightness  stimuli  and  that  the  factors  in  the  transfer 
are  due  in  great  part  to  habituation  and  to  a  more 
economic  adaptation  of  attention,  i.  e.,  are  general 
rather  than  specific  in  character."  In  their  second 
experiment  just  referred  to,  in  which  reaction  with 
discrimination  (choice)  was  tested,  four  reagents 
were  trained  through  four  days  in  card-sorting,  during 
which  4000  cards  were  distributed  by  each  reagent. 
They  were  tested  for  five  days  on  "typewriter  reac- 
tions"— about  3000  reactions  in  each  case;  and  after 
training  in  card-sorting,  an  after  test  was  given  for 
three  days  which  included  about  1800  reactions. 
The  results  warranted  the  conclusion  that  "training 
in  card-sorting  is  the  cause  of  the  increased  ease  and 
facility  experienced  by  the  regular  reagents  in  the 
second  trial  in  'typewTiter  reactions'";  but  this  im- 
provement is  not  considered  due  to  "identical  ele- 
ments." "The  general  condition  that  is  common  to 
both  is  the  habit  of  stripping  the  essential  process  of 
unnecessary  and  complicating  accessories."  The  cause 
of  transference  of  facility  is  the  formation  of  a  habit 
of  reacting  directly  to  a  stimulus,  which  results  in  an 
equitable  distribution  of  attention  and  the  conse- 
quent power  of  concentrating  the  attention. 

Thorndike  and  Woodworth  (53)  in  their  tests  of 
improvement  in  mental  functions  used  magnitudes, 
such  as  lines  of  various  lengths,  areas  of  different 
sizes,  and  weights  of  several  magnitudes;  the  practice 


14  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

work  was  on  estimating  magnitudes  of  the  same  gen- 
eral sort.  They  also  tested  the  "influence  of  training 
in  observing  words  containing  certain  combinations  of 
letters  or  some  other  characteristic,  on  the  general 
ability  to  observe  words."  The  subject  practised 
picking  out  and  marking  words  of  some  one  special 
sort  until  a  high  degree  of  proficiency  was  attained. 
From  four  to  six  subjects  were  used  in  the  various 
experiments,  all  of  which  tested  the  "influence  of 
improvement  in  a  function  on  other  functions  closely 
allied  to  it." 

Their  conclusions  were  as  follows:  "It  is  misleading 
to  speak  of  sense  discrimination,  attention,  memory, 
observation,  accuracy,  quickness,  etc.,  as  multitudinous 
separate  individual  functions  are  referred  to  by  any 
one  of  these  words."  "There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  any  general  change  occurs  corresponding  to  the 
words  'improvement  of  the  attention,'  or  'of  the  power 
of  observation,'  or  'of  accuracy.'"  "Improvement  in 
any  single  mental  function  rarely  brings  about  equal 
improvement  in  any  other  function,  no  matter  how 
similar,  for  the  working  of  every  mental  function- 
group  is  conditioned  by  the  nature  of  the  data  in 
each  particular  case."  "The  general  consideration  of 
the  cases  of  retention  or  of  loss  of  practice  effect  seems 
to  make  it  likely  that  spread  of  practice  occurs  only 
where  identical  elements  are  concerned  in  the  influ- 
encing and  influenced  functions." 

Urbantschitsch  (56)  studied  pathological  cases  with 
diseases  of  the  eye  and  ear  and  found  that  stimulation 
also  affects  parts  seemingly  not  immediately  concerned. 
An  hour's  operation  on  the  right  eye  showed  on  the 
left  a  relative  enhancement  of  the  capacity  to  see.  In 
many  patients  with   chronic   catarrh   of   the  middle 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  15 

ear,  the  observer  was  surprised  to  find  that  an  import- 
ant pathological  influence  was  transferred  from  the 
ear  to  vision.  In  a  later  investigation  he  demon- 
strated that  the  sensitivity  for  tactual,  gustatory, 
olfactory,  and  visual  stimulation  can  be  increased  by 
practice  with  auditory  stimulation. 

To  summarize  the  conclusions  of  the  investigators 
upon  the  topic  of  the  effect  on  other  kinds  of  sensi- 
tivity of  training  one  kind  of  sensitivity,  we  find  that 
WalUn,  Seashore  and  Jenner,  Coover  and  Angell,  and 
Urbantschitsch  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  transfer, 
but  Thorndike  and  Woodworth  are  opposed.  Ben- 
nett's tests  must  be  disregarded,  as  the  two  reagents 
obtained  results  diametrically  opposed.  The  results  of 
Wallin  and  Bennett  could  be  set  aside  on  the  ground 
of  having  too  few  subjects,  unless  their  results  were 
subsequently  verified  by  other  observers.  In  all  of 
the  tests,  the  subjects  were  too  few  in  number,  but  the 
results  of  Seashore  and  Jenner,  of  Coover  and  Angell, 
and  of  Urbantschitsch,  seem  to  place  the  preponder- 
ance of  scientific  conclusion  on  the  affirmative  side. 

2.  Experivients  on  the  accuracy  of  voluntary  effort 
and  the  effect  of  special  training  on  the  general  rapidity 
and  accuracy  of  motor  adjustments.  Here,  many 
diverse  methods  have  been  used,  with  resultant  dis- 
similarity of  results  and  inferences. 

Davis  (14)  used  a  target  and  a  fencer's  foil,  and 
worked  with  six  subjects.  He  had  10  thrusts  made 
with  the  right  hand  and  recorded  on  a  paper  target. 
After  five  minutes,  the  record  of  10  thrusts  with  the 
left  hand  was  made  on  another  paper  target.  The 
initial  tests  were  repeated  after  10  days'  practice  of 
10  thrusts  daily  with  the  right  hand.  It  was  found 
that  the  subjects  could  be  educated  in  accuracy  and 


16  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

co-ordination  of  voluntary  movement.  The  left  hand 
improved  from  57.2  per  cent,  to  36.5  per  cent,  nearer 
the  center  of  the  target;  while  the  right  hand  improved 
from  50.5  per  cent,  to  24.3  per  cent.  Increase  in  ac- 
curacy is  due  to  practice  in  lunging.  His  experiments 
did  not  test  the  transfer  of  this  special  training  to  other 
motor  adjustments,  but  only  to  the  bilaterally  sym- 
metrical organ. 

Jastrow  (27),  in  testing  quickness  of  response  to 
tactile  and  visual  stimuli,  experimented  with  two 
" Sleight-of-Hand  Experts,"  Kellar  and  Hermann, 
and  with  miscellaneous  individuals  for  the  control. 
The  tests  included  measurements  with  the  aesthesi- 
ometer,  judgments  of  weights  of  different  magnitudes, 
and  tests  of  sensitiveness  to  texture,  for  which  coils  of 
different  sized  wire  were  utilized.  The  results  showed 
that  Hermann's  and  Kellar's  tactual  and  muscular  per- 
ception were  below  normal.  With  the  Weber  compass, 
Hermann  could  distinguish  the  points  at  3.5  mm. 
distance,  Kellar  at  2.5  mm.,  and  the  average  for  mis- 
cellaneous individuals  at  2  mm.  Herman  was  unsuc- 
cessful, Kellar  successful,  in  arranging  in  correct  order 
five  weights,  each  of  which  weighed  y^  more  than 
the  previous  weight.  In  a  general  series  of  tests, 
92  per  cent,  of  those  tested  arranged  the  series  cor- 
rectly. In  the  tests  with  the  different  sized  wires, 
"both  Mr.  Hermann  and  Mr.  Kellar  succeeded  in  ar- 
ranging both  series  correctly,  but  this  was  also  done 
by  nine  out  of  ten  persons  who  were  tested  in  the 
same  way."  Quite  a  number  of  tests  of  the  quickness 
of  movement  and  of  mental  processes,  and  of  visual 
perception,  were  made.  Some  of  the  ordinary  forms 
of  reaction  experiments  were  also  tried.  Tests  to  find 
out  the  comprehensiveness  of  perception  were  likewise 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  17 

given.  Selecting  those  tests  in  which  the  records  of 
Hermann  and  of  Kellar  differ  markedly  from  the 
normal,  Jastrow  finds:  "In  the  quickness  of  response 
to  a  touch  and  a  visual  stimulus  both  the  special  sub- 
jects, and  Mr.  Kellar  as  well  in  response  to  an  audi- 
tory stimulus,  excelled  to  a  considerable  extent  the 
average  individual."  But  in  the  ''most  complicated 
reaction  they  both  fall  considerably  below  the  normal." 
There  are  decided  indications  of  unusual  quickness 
for  both;  but  no  very  decided  excellence  appears  in 
the  scope  and  accuracy  of  visual  perception.  ''In 
tests  involving  mainly  tactual  and  muscular  percep- 
tion, the  indication  is  rather  that  they  are  below  than 
above  the  normal."  Thus  Jastrow  concludes  that 
"the  positive  results  of  the  investigation  are  thus 
small,  but  as  far  as  they  go  they  are  consistent  with 
the  forms  of  dexterity  that  are  utilized  in  sleight-of- 
hand  performances."  "They  also  indicate  that  it 
may  well  be  that  special  skill  in  one  very  specialized 
form  of  training  may  be  only  slightly  influential  upon 
other  forms  of  capacity." 

In  Gilbert's  and  Tracker's  (54)  experiments,  re- 
viewed by  Thorndike,  two  subjects  were  tested  for 
their  quickness  in  moving  the  finger,  (1)  when  they 
heard  a  certain  sound,  (2)  when  they  felt  a  certain 
electric  shock,  (3)  when  they  felt  a  certain  blow,  and 
(4)  when  they  saw  a  blue  surface.  They  were  also 
tested  for  their  quickness  in  moving  the  finger  at  these 
same  stimuli  when  either  the  given  sound  or  one  less 
loud,  either  the  given  shock  or  one  less  intense,  either 
the  given  blow  or  one  less  hard,  and  either  a  blue  or 
a  red  might  appear.  They  were  trained  for  a  number 
of  days  in  quickness  in  reacting  to  the  sound,  (a) 
when  only  it  was  given,  (6)  when  either  it  or  the  weaker 


18  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

sound  might  be  given.  Then  they  were  tested  as 
before.  It  was  found  that  there  was  an  improvement 
in  all  cases,  except  one  case  with  one  observer.  One 
observer  was  trained  only  in  (a)  quickness  in  reacting 
to  sound.  He  improved  markedly  in  the  correspond- 
ing tests,  but  not  so  much  as  the  others  in  the  second 
set  of  tests.  Thorndike  explains  this  improvement  on 
the  ground  of  ''identical  elements."  Elements  com- 
mon to  all  these  tests  are  concentrated  attention, 
alertness,  effort,  co-ordination  of  sensory  and  motor 
areas,  and  rapidity  of  discrimination. 

Swift's  (52)  experiments  on  the  testing  of  the 
acquisition  of  skill  in  keeping  two  balls  going  with 
one  hand,  were  made  with  solid  rubber  balls.  There 
were  six  subjects — five  university  students  and  one 
professor.  Ten  series  were  given;  each  of  which  con- 
sisted in  throwing  until  failure  to  catch  one  or  both 
balls.  Practice  was  with  the  right  hand,  but  there 
was  a  preliminary  test  with  the  left.  He  discovered 
that  progress  was  at  first  slow  and  then  more  rapid. 
There  was  great  irregularity  of  advance.  Progress 
was  by  "jumps."  A  "warming  up"  is  necessary  but 
"steady  and  calm  intensity  makes  for  progress."  He 
also  found  transference  of  practice  eiTects  from  the 
right  hand  to  the  left.  Swift,  himself,  performed  an 
experiment  which  combined  physical  and  mental 
tests,  in  the  acquisition  of  skill  in  typewriting.  He 
wrote  one  hour  each  day  from  copy.  Here,  he  also 
found  that  the  rise  of  the  practice  curve  is  rapid,  but 
that  there  is  irregularity  from  day  to  day.  In  both 
of  Swift's  experiments,  there  is  no  test  of  the  transfer 
to  other  abilities  of  special  ability  gained  by  practice. 
It  was  discovered  that  training  of  the  right  hand  was 
effective  upon  the  left,  but  he  does  not  believe  that 


EXPEEIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  19 

this  gives  any  support  to  the  doctrine  of  ''formal 
education."  "There  is  no  evidence  to  show  that 
training  has  general  value." 

Judd's  (2)  method  in  testing  the  influence  of  train- 
ing in  the  judgment  of  direction  of  lines,  was  to  place 
his  one  subject  with  his  right  hand  hidden  from  his 
own  view  by  a  screen.  On  the  left  of  the  screen,  nine 
different  lines  were  shown  in  succession  and  the  ob- 
server was  required  to  place  a  pencil  held  in  the  unseen 
right  hand  in  the  direction  indicated  by  the  several 
lines  seen  by  him.  The  subject  was  trained  to  the 
more  accurate  localization  of  one  line,  No.  5.  After 
improvement,  the  original  conditions  were  restored 
and  the  tests  again  made.  Every  line  was  affected  in 
the  final  test.  "This  means  that  there  had  been  a 
transfer  of  effects  under  the  conditions  of  the  training 
described."  A  new  practice  series  was  begun  with 
Line  No.  2,  and  the  amount  of  practice  given  was 
much  greater  in  quantity  and  more  radical  in  type, 
but  the  subject  remained  relatively  unaffected.  Judd's 
conclusions  are  that  "joint  improvement  is  only  one 
of  the  possible  forms  of  transfer;  reciprocal  inter- 
ference is  just  as  significant  a  type  of  relation  and 
just  as  certainly  a  type  of  transfer  as  is  joint  improve- 
ment," and  "the  closing  up  of  the  possibilities  of  future 
practice  is  much  more  important  a  consequence  of 
any  practice  series  than  the  direct  transfer  of  effects 
to  other  functions."  In  the  experiments  on  the 
transfer  of  practice  in  the  Miiller-Lyer  illusion,  two 
observers  were  tested  in  the  comparison  of  two  com- 
plex geometrical  figures.  Judd  found  that  both 
learned  to  apprehend  the  lines  correctly  in  about  the 
same  number  of  comparisons.  When  the  figures 
were  reversed  and  a  second  series  of  tests  begun,  the 


20  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

observer  who  knew  about  the  effect  of  practice  ad- 
justed himself  to  the  new  demands  and  rapidly  over- 
came the  illusion.  The  other  showed  greater  error 
and  no  disposition  to  improve.  Judd  concluded  that 
''the  practice  gained  in  the  first  series  was  transferred 
in  both  cases;  in  one  case,  it  worked  improvement;  in 
the  other,  it  increased  the  illusion,  and  rendered  the 
observer  incapable  of  rapid  readjustment." 

In  Foster's  (18)  experiments  on  the  effect  of  prac- 
tice upon  visualizing  and  upon  the  reproduction  of 
visual  impressions,  real  objects,  pictures,  and  non- 
sense-drawings were  exposed  to  three  observers  for 
10-60  seconds.  They  were  required  to  reproduce  by 
drawing  and  description.  He  found  ability  to  repro- 
duce increased  with  practice,  it  was  rapid  at  first  and 
slow  later. 

Whipple  (62),  in  testing  the  effect  of  practice  upon 
the  range  of  visual  attention  used  a  disc-tachistoscope 
and  5-,  6-,  and  7-place  nonsense  combinations  of  letters. 
The  subjects  were  six  college  students,  each  of  whom 
observed  124-250  exposures  of  .08  second's  duration. 
His  results  show  that  the  average  number  of  letters 
that  can  be  grasped  in  a  single  exposure  lies  between 
4  and  5  (4.82).  "Attention  and  effortful  observa- 
tion through  a  series  of  from  one  to  two  hundred  or 
more  exposures  has  a  curiously  small  effect  upon  the 
range  of  attention."  "Adult  observers  very  quickly 
reach  a  physiological  limit  of  visual  observation  when 
the  exposure  is  so  restricted  as  to  prohibit  eye-move- 
ments and  roving  of  attention."  In  studying  the 
range  of  visual  apprehension,  the  form  of  material  to 
be  used — dots,  pictures,  nonsense-syllables,  drawings, 
or  stanzas  of  poetry — was  stated  and  the  exposure 
with  the  tachistoscope  for  3  seconds  was  made  when 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  21 

the  observers  were  thoroughly  prepared  by  fixation 
and  attention  to  receive  it.  Again,  groups  of  ten 
objects  upon  a  table  were  exposed  for  6  seconds. 
Three  observers  performed  these  experiments.  ''The 
most  striking  quantitative  results  of  these  tests  is  the 
very  small  increase  for  certain  kinds  of  material  in 
the  number  of  items  observed  with  the  exposures  of  3 
and  6  seconds  as  compared  with  the  exposure  of  .08 
seconds  (range  of  attention  tests)."  ''With  an  ex- 
posure of  6  seconds,  the  average  number  of  objects 
named  was  6.05,  while  with  an  exposure  only  tV  as 
long,  between  4  and  5  objects  could  be  named."  The 
tables  show  facts  that  "negative  the  idea  of  general 
ability  in  apprehension  or  even  of  general  ability  in 
visual  apprehension:  we  may  state  only  that  a  given 
individual  excels  in  the  attentive  observation  of  pic- 
tures, of  drawings,  of  words,  or  of  certain  kinds  of 
objects,  etc.,  not  that  he  excels  in  all-round  observa- 
tion." The  table  also  "seems  to  show  the  improb- 
ability of  a  series  of  classroom  exercises  training  and 
developing  general  capacity  to  attend." 

Bergstrom  (7),  in  his  study  of  the  relation  of  the 
interference  effect  to  the  practice  effect  of  an  associ- 
ation, sorted  80  cards  into  10  different  piles,  each 
containing  8  cards  with  the  same  picture.  In  sorting 
the  same  pack  a  second  time,  a  given  card  could  be 
placed  in  the  same  position  as  the  first  time  or  in  one 
of  nine  other  positions.  If  put  in  the  same,  it  is  a 
simple  practice  effect,  and  if  in  a  different  one  it  is  an 
interference  effect.  The  cards  were  sorted  with  the 
greatest  possible  speed.  He  found  that  the  "inter- 
ference effect  of  an  association  bears  a  constant  rela- 
tion to  the  practice  effect  and  is  in  fact  equivalent  to 
it."     The  variations  are  due  to  memory. 


22  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

Baii-'s  (54)  method  in  his  studies  of  the  influence  of 
special  training  on  general  power  to  meet  new  situa- 
tions was  to  label  6  keys  of  a  typewriter  with  6  sym- 
bols (letters  or  figures).  Fifty-five  of  these  letters  or 
figures  (in  chance  order)  were  now  shown  one  by  one, 
and  the  subject  on  seeing  one  taps  the  corresponding 
key.  Record  was  kept  of  the  time  taken  to  tap  out 
the  series.  Six  different  symbols  were  then  used  in  a 
new  series  and  the  subjects'  time-record  taken  as 
before.  In  a  similar  manner,  twenty  different  sets  of 
symbols  were  used.  There  were  four  subjects.  A 
steady  improvement  was  found  in  the  time  taken  to 
tap  out  a  series.  In  another  experiment,  he  took  daily 
records  for  twenty  days  of  the  time  required  to  repeat 
the  alphabet  from  memory,  repeating  it  forwards 
and  backwards  and  inserting  the  letter  ?i  between 
each  letter  in  two  other  repetitions.  The  test  exer- 
cises consisted  of  repeating  the  alphabet  forwards  and 
backwards  and  inserting  x  and  r.  He  again  found 
improvement  in  the  tested  series. 

jMiinsterberg  (35)  studied  the  interesting  theo- 
retical problem  whether  a  habit  associated  with  a 
given  sensory  stimulus  can  continue  automatically, 
while  some  effect  of  a  previous  and  different  habit 
associated  with  the  same  stimulus  remains.  The 
experiments  were  made  with  his  inkstand,  his  watch, 
and  the  doors  of  his  laboratory.  For  instance  he  exer- 
cised the  habit  of  taking  his  watch  out  of  his  pocket 
on  the  left  side  until  it  became  automatic.  Then  he 
practised  taking  it  out  on  the  right  side  until  the  new 
habit  was  automatic.  He  then  returned  to  the  old 
habit  and  found  that  it  took  less  time  to  relearn  this 
than  it  did  to  learn  the  second.  He  concluded  that 
some  effect  of  the  first  habit  remained,  although  the 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  23 

second  had  become  automatic.  When  this  process 
was  repeated  several  times,  the  time  required  for  re- 
learning  each  of  the  two  habits  decreased,  following 
the  laws  of  the  practice  curve.  He  maintains  that 
apparently  contradictory  habits  do  not  destroy  each 
other;  at  first,  it  is  hard  to  create  the  new  habit,  but 
once  formed,  it  is  easy  to  shift  back  and  forth  from 
one  to  the  other. 

Ruger  (41)  in  testing  the  transfer  of  specific  motor 
habits  in  his  study  of  the  Psychology  of  Efficiency, 
had  his  subjects  from  the  psychological  laboratory, 
use  "animal"  and  ''human"  methods  in  taking 
apart  or  putting  together  various  puzzles.  The  pre- 
liminary and  final  tests  consisted  in  testing  a  subject 
with  a  puzzle  thrown  in  chance  positions.  The  train- 
ing consisted  in  handling  four  special  but  important 
positions.  The  training  of  another  subject  consisted 
entirely  of  chance  positions  in  a  series  about  half  the 
length  of  the  first  subject's  series.  The  second  tests 
of  the  first  subject  showed  no  improvement  over  the 
initial  results  and  were  inferior  to  those  of  the  second 
subject.  "This  failure  to  profit  by  the  highly  special- 
ized training  seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  lack  of  a 
generalized  rule  of  procedure."  Ruger  therefore  con- 
cluded that  "in  general,  the  value  of  specific  habits 
under  a  change  of  conditions  depended  dhectly  on 
the  presence  of  a  general  idea  which  would  serve  for 
their  control."  In  regard  to  concrete  unagery  he 
found  that  "the  value  of  the  image  as  well  as  of  the 
motor  habit  depended  on  the  precision  of  the  analysis." 
As  regards  attitude  and  attention,  he  concluded  that 
"no  evidence  was  secured  in  favor  of  an  automatic 
change  in  level  of  attention  but  there  were  indications 
of  its  indirect   control   by  means   of  ideals  of  what 


24  THE   DOCTRINE    OF  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

constituted  an  efficient  state  of  attention."  Among 
the  most  important  of  the  ideals  of  method  were  the 
"idea  of  efficiency  as  a  goal  to  be  reached,  ideals  of 
scientific  method,  and  the  ideal  of  an  optimum  per- 
sonal attitude." 

Summarizing  the  results  and  conclusions  of  the 
eleven  authors  whose  experiments  have  just  been  briefly 
described,  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  not  a  great  deal 
of  evidence  has  been  produced  either  for  or  against 
the  doctrine  of  transference.  The  inference  that 
improvement  results  from  practice  is  supported  almost 
unanimously.  Some  interesting  evidence  is  deduced 
in  regard  to  the  interference  of  practice  effects.  Some 
of  the  experiments  give  data  in  regard  to  "cross- 
education."  Where  it  was  desired  to  secure  informa- 
tion upon  the  subject  of  the  transfer  of  practice,  the 
practice  was  in  all  cases  so  similar  to  the  tests  that 
improvement  in  the  practice  series  naturally  resulted 
in  improvement  in  the  final  tests.  Obviously,  some 
of  the  tests  in  both  the  preliminary  and  final  series 
should  be  as  dissimilar  to  the  practice  series  as  possible. 
This  similarity  warrants  the  explanation  of  transfer- 
ence as  due  to  "identical  elements"  or  "similarity  of 
method  or  ideas."  In  some  cases,  the  hmited  number 
of  the  subjects  precludes  generalization,  as  does  also 
the  securing  of  results  diametrically  opposed  by  inde- 
pendent investigators.  Davis,  Swift,  Judd,  Foster, 
Bair,  ^Miinsterberg,  and  Ruger  all  found  that  improve- 
ment results  from  practice.  Judd  and  Bergstrora 
emphasized  the  importance  of  interference  as  well  as  of 
practice  effects,  but  in  their  experiments  only  one  or 
two  subjects  were  used,  while  13au-  and  Munsterberg 
claim  that  apparently  contradictory  habits  do  not 
destroy  one  another.     Davis  and  Swift  in  their  tests 


EXPEEIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  25 

obtained  evidence  with  regard  to  the  transference  of 
practice  from  the  right  to  the  left  hand.  Of  those 
who  entered  upon  the  investigation  of  transfer,  Gil- 
bert and  Fracker,  Judd,  and  Ruger  admitted  that 
some  transfer  occurred  while  Jastrow  and  Whipple 
found  no  evidence  of  its  existence.  In  most  of  the 
cases  the  subjects  were  too  few  in  number  and  the 
practice  too  sunilar  to  the  tests  to  warrant  trust- 
worthy conclusions, 

3.  Experime7its  on  the  effect  of  special  training  on 
the  general  rapidity  and  accuracy  of  memorizing  were 
tried  by  James,  Bennett,  Ebert  and  Meumann,  and 
Fracker  with  contradictory  results  on  the  question  of 
improvement  with  practice  and  transfer. 

James  (25)  took  account  of  the  time  necessary  for 
each  of  five  observers  to  learn  a  given  amount  of 
poetry.  Then  all  practised;  James  learned  the  first 
book  of  Paradise  Lost  and  the  others  varying  amounts 
of  poetry.  Then  the  time  required  to  learn  an  amount 
similar  to  that  of  the  first  test  was  taken  for  each  of 
the  observers.  James  found  that  two  subjects  re- 
quired more  time  for  memorizing  (one  considerably 
more)  after  training,  and  the  other  three  subjects  a 
little  less  time;  but  he  concluded  that  the  tests  were 
long  enough  to  give  training  on  the  test-verse,  so  the 
experiment  may  be  regarded  as  giving  no  evidence  in 
favor  of  transfer. 

Bennett's  (6)  method  was  to  have  one  observer 
commit  to  memory  5  rows  of  figures,  30  figures  in 
each  row,  at  the  rate  of  one  row  per  day.  The  train- 
ing was  carried  on  for  4  weeks,  16  lines  from  In  Memor- 
iam  being  memorized  each  day.  The  second  ob- 
server wrote  out  five  lines  of  names  of  places,  15 
names  in  each  line,  and  committed  one  line  each  day. 


26  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

The  practice  was  on  two  stanzas  of  the  Faerie  Queen 
committed  daily  for  5  weeks.  In  each  case  the  final 
test  was  similar  to  the  preliminary.  Bennett  found 
that  the  final  test  in  memorizing  numbers  required 
58  per  cent,  of  the  time  of  the  first  test;  while  that  in 
memorizing  names  of  places  required  22  per  cent,  of 
the  time  of  the  first  test.  He  concluded  that  "the 
possible  increase  in  the  ability  to  remember  figures, 
could  readily  come  from  the  special  training  in  doing 
that  very  thing  in  so  many  subjects  of  the  curricu- 
lum." "There  is  some  sort  of  transfer  from  memor- 
izing one  class  of  facts  to  memorizing  another  class 
of  facts,  and  from  memorizing  prose  to  memorizing 
poetry.  Memorizing  poetry  gives  increased  ability 
to  memorize  figures  or  names  of  places." 

Ebert  and  Meumann  (2,  6,  21)  in  their  investiga- 
tion to  determine  the  effects  of  training  in  learning 
material  of  one  kind  upon  the  capacity  to  learn  mater- 
ial of  the  same  and  different  kinds,  used  eight  subjects 
whose  memories  were  tested  for  ease  of  learning  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  material,  such  as  series  of  letters,  num- 
bers, nonsense  syllables,  words,  Italian  words,  strophes 
of  poetry,  and  selections  of  prose.  They  learned  32 
series  of  nonsense  syllables,  12  in  a  row;  two  series  of 
syllables  on  one  day  and  tested  the  retention  of  two 
more.  Thus,  they  learned  four  series  of  12  syllables 
each  on  each  of  10  days.  At  the  end  of  this  time  the 
first  test  material  was  relearned  and  the  facility  of 
relearning  was  compared  with  the  original.  Then 
there  was  another  period  of  learning;  four  men  trained 
on  IG  series  of  the  same  material  as  before;  and  four 
had  32  series.  Then  the  final  test  was  given.  Tests 
were  also  made  after  75-15G  days  of  vacation.  Their 
results  favor  a  belief  in  a  general  effect  from  special 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  27 

training.  There  was  a  gain  in  the  average  perform- 
ance of  the  8  observers  for  each  kind  of  material  used. 
There  is  a  tendency  for  the  gain  to  be  greater  in 
material  that  is  most  closely  related  to  that  on  which 
practice  was  obtained,  59  per  cent,  of  gain  in  memor- 
izing numbers,  58.2  per  cent,  in  letters,  42  per  cent. 
in  nonsense  syllables,  while  Italian  words,  poetry  and 
prose  showed  gains  of  30  per  cent.,  27  per  cent.,  and 
29  per  cent,  respectively.  They  found  that  retentive- 
ness  was  increased  as  well  as  quickness.  Tests  made 
after  the  lapse  of  from  75-156  days  of  vacation  showed 
no  loss  of  training;  in  some,  an  increase  in  memory 
capacity. 

Fracker  (19)  in  his  study  of  the  transference  of 
training  in  memory,  tested  memory  for  poetry,  the 
order  of  four  shades  of  gray,  the  order  of  nine  tones, 
the  order  of  nine  shades  of  gray,  the  order  of  four 
tones,  the  order  of  nine  geometrical  figures,  the  order 
of  nine  numbers,  and  the  extent  of  arm-movement; 
the  training  series  was  memory  for  four  tones.  The 
subjects  were  eight  college  students  and  professors. 
The  instruments  employed  were  the  psychergograph 
and  the  telephone.  The  four  tones  consisted  of  a 
major  chord  and  the  nine  numbers  were  of  two  figures 
each.  The  following  results  were  obtained:  The 
gain  in  the  tests  for  poetry  was  not  very  great  in  the 
case  of  any  observer.  The  gain  in  the  four  shades  of 
gray  was  often  greater  than  the  gain  in  the  training; 
it  was  usually  as  great,  seldom  less.  Four  observers 
gained  more  in  the  nine  tones  than  in  the  training 
series;  two  made  the  greatest  gain  in  the  nine  tones  of 
any  of  the  test  experiments.  He  judged  that  the 
"influence  of  training  seems  to  be  very  strong." 
Three  observers  made  a  greater  gain  in  the  nine  grays 


28  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

than  in  the  training.  One  gained  more  in  the  four 
tones  (major  chord)  than  in  the  training  series,  but  no 
observer  made  the  greatest  gain  in  this  test.  This 
test  was  most  lil<:e  the  training  series  and  should  have 
shown  the  greatest  gain,  according  to  many  investi- 
gators' results  as  to  the  effects  of  practice.  Fracker 
thinks  that  the  failure  to  gain  was  due  to  a  different 
method  of  response.  One  made  the  greatest  gain  in 
the  nine  numbers'  test.  Fracker  draws  the  general 
conclusion  that  the  "central  or  most  essential  ele- 
ment in  improvement  is  individual  imagery"  and  the 
"improvement  is  more  rapid  if  the  imagery  is  con- 
sciously developed."  He  also  concluded  that  trans- 
ference is  due  to  "identical  elements"  or  a  "spread 
of  training";  and  he  is  in  favor  of  the  former,  or  in 
favor  of  a  "limited  spread  of  training." 

Reviewing  these  investigations,  it  is  evident  that 
James  reached  conclusions  leading  him  to  discredit 
the  belief  in  transference  effects  when  applied  to  mem- 
ory tests,  whereas  Bennett,  Ebert  and  Meumann, 
and  Fracker  all  obtained  results  which  appear  to  be 
overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  a  "spread  of  training." 
Bennett  had  only  two  reagents,  but  both  showed  a  de- 
cided amount  of  improvement,  while  the  experiments 
of  Ebert  and  Meumann  and  of  Fracker  because  of 
the  increased  number  of  observers,  the  variety  of 
material  used  in  the  tests,  and  the  number  of  the 
tests,  point  almost  conclusively  to  the  reliabihty  of 
the  belief  in  the  spread  of  practice  effects,  at  least  in 
memory  work,  even  to  material  not  closely  related  to 
that  used  in  the  practice  series. 

4.  Data  derived  from  experimentation  in  regard  to 
the  effect  of  the  training  of  one  organ  upon  the  bilater- 
ally symmetrical  one,  or  closely  related  member,  have 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  29 

been  advanced  in  favor  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline.  Investigations  upon  this  subject  have 
been  made  by  Davis,  Scripture,  Raif,  Wallin,  Volk- 
mann.  Swift,  Starch,  and  Woodworth,  among  others. 
The  experiments  of  Davis  (14),  Swift  (52),  and  WalUn 
(58),  in  which  they  found  a  decided  transference  from 
a  practised  to  an  unpractised  member,  have  already 
been  referred  to  in  other  connections. 

Scripture  (44)  had  his  subject  take  10  records  of 
the  right  hand  with  a  mercury  dynamometer  and  10 
records  of  the  left  hand.  Only  the  right  hand  was 
practised  and  final  tests  taken  with  the  left  hand. 
He  found  that  the  left  hand  had  gained  50  per  cent. 
in  strength.  In  another  experiment,  he  had  20  trials 
of  each  hand  in  inserting  a  needle  into  a  hole  without 
touching  the  sides.  The  right  hand  was  practised 
200  times  and  the  left  hand  again  tested.  The  un- 
practised left  hand  increased  from  50  per  cent,  to  76 
per  cent,  of  successful  trials. 

Raif  (37)  tested  the  average  speed  of  the  finger 
movements  of  each  hand  in  18  pupils.  The  exercises 
to  develop  rapidity  began  with  the  right  hand  only. 
The  right  hand  increased  from  an  average  speed  of 
116  to  176  strokes  per  minute  after  2  months'  prac- 
tice, whereas  the  left  hand,  entirely  without  practice, 
increased  from  112  to  152. 

Volkmann  (6,  14,  21,  54),  in  his  experiments  on  the 
influence  of  practice  on  the  power  of  perceiving  small 
distances,  tested  the  sensitiveness  of  both  arms  of 
one  subject  for  the  two  points  of  a  Weber's  compass. 
The  left  arm  was  then  practised  for  several  weeks. 
It  was  found  that  in  the  right  arm,  the  distance  of  the 
perception  of  the  two  points  was  reduced  from  26.4 
to  15.7  mm.,  while  in  the  practised  left,  the  reduction 


30  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

was  from  23.6  to  11.2  mm.  He  also  found  that  prac- 
tice on  one  finger  of  the  left  hand  gave  increase  in 
ability  in  all  the  fingers,  but  none  in  the  arm. 

Starch  (50)  had  two  subjects  trace  the  outline  of  a 
six-pointed  star  as  seen  in  a  mirror.  The  subjects 
traced  one-half  of  one  outline  with  the  left  hand. 
Then  one  subject  made  ten  complete  outlines  with 
the  right  hand  while  the  other  made  fifty.  Both  then 
traced  another  half  with  the  left  hand.  He  found 
that  the  average  improvement  in  the  right  hand 
after  practice  was  88  per  cent,  while  the  unpractised 
left  hand  had  improved  83  per  cent.  The  subject 
who  had  made  50  tracings  with  the  right  hand  showed 
an  improvement  of  82  per  cent,  and  68  per  cent,  with 
the  unpractised  left  hand.  ''Altogether  the  left  hand 
profits  to  the  extent  of  90  per  cent,  of  the  gain  made 
by  the  right  hand."  Ten  laboratory  students  made 
ten  records  with  the  right  hand  and  improved  on  the 
average  53  per  cent. 

Davis  (14,  54)  had  six  subjects  tap  on  a  telegraph 
key  with  the  right  and  left  index  fingers  and  right  and 
left  great  toes.  The  right  great  toe  was  practised 
from  10-20  days.  He  found  that  improvement  with 
the  right  toe  was  accompanied  by  151  per  cent,  as 
much  improvement  in  the  left  foot,  100  per  cent,  as 
much  in  the  right  hand,  and  83  per  cent,  as  much  in 
the  left  hand.  In  another  experiment,  he  took  the 
girth  measurements  of  both  arms  of  six  subjects  and  the 
number  of  times  that  each  arm  could  raise  five  pounds. 
The  subjects  were  practised  from  two  to  four  weeks 
on  the  flexion  of  the  right  arm  with  weight.  The 
result  showed  that  practice  had  effected  an  increase 
in  the  girth  measurements.  The  right  arm  increased 
twice  as  much  as  the  left,  but  the  left  made  marked 
gains. 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  31 

Woodworth  (54)  practised  the  left  hand  of  one 
subject  in  hitting  a  dot  at  speeds  of  40,  120,  and  200 
strokes  a  minute  and  tested  the  right  hand  before  and 
after  practice.     He  found  improvement  in  both  hands. 

Although  in  some  instances  the  number  of  the 
subjects  of  the  investigations  was  quite  limited, 
still,  because  of  the  unanimity  of  results  of  the  eight 
investigators,  there  can  be  no  question  of  the  effects 
of  practice  of  one  member  upon  its  fellow.  With 
one  exception,  all  of  the  paired  external  organs  were 
subjected  to  experimentation.  Experiments  were  per- 
formed with  the  hands,  fingers,  arms,  toes,  and  eyes. 
I  do  not  recall  any  one's  testing  the  effect  of  the  prac- 
tice of  one  ear  upon  the  other,  nor  is  it  certain  that 
this  would  prove  feasible  because  of  the  practical 
impossibility  of  effectively  closing  up  either  avenue 
of  auditory  stimuli.  Practice  was  given  to  left-hand 
members  as  well  as  to  right-hand  and  with  the  same 
results.  While  all  the  results  are  consistent,  differ- 
ences appear  in  the  explanation  of  the  results,  in  the 
conclusions  reached.  Some  are  not  in  favor  of  per- 
mitting results  of  experiments  in  cross-education  to 
contribute  to  the  support  of  the  doctrine  of  formal 
discipline,  while  others  consider  them  due  to  the 
presence  of  "identical  elements,"  a  'transfer  of 
training"  or  a  ''co-ordination  of  movements." 

Pedagogical  Experiments. 

1.  Mathematics — A.  College  students.  Starch  (49), 
in  investigating  the  transfer  of  training  in  arith- 
metical operations,  used  eight  observers  each  having 
fourteen  days'  practice  in  mental  multiplication. 
Seven  others  were  also  given  the  preliminary  and 
final  tests  which  consisted  of  six  tests  in  arithmetical 


32  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

operations  and  two  tests  in  immediate  auditory  mem- 
ory span.  He  found  that  the  practised  observers 
showed  from  20-40  per  cent,  more  improvement  in 
the  arithmetical  tests  than  the  unpractised;  but  that 
there  was  httle  change  in  memory  span  for  either 
group.  He  conckides  that  the  'Improvement  in  the 
end  test  was  due  therefore  to  the  'identical  elements' 
acquhed  in  the  training  series." 

Lewis  (30)  examined  the  records  of  ten  different 
classes  of  Dartmouth  students  who  had  taken  law 
and  mathematics,  to  discover  the  relation  of  reason- 
ing in  these  two  subjects.  Fifty  per  cent,  of  the  best 
students  in  law  were  conspicuous  for  their  poor  show- 
ing in  mathematics,  while  42  per  cent,  of  those  poorest 
in  law  stood  at  the  head  of  the  series  in  mathematics. 

Collins  (11),  in  order  to  verify  Lewis'  results  in  the 
above  experiment  and  in  a  high-school  experiment 
to  be  described  later,  had  eight  instructors  rank  cer- 
tain students  in  percentages  as  to  their  reasoning 
power.  These  students  were  ranked  in  their  ability 
to  carry  on  miscellaneous  kinds  of  reasoning.  By 
means  of  marks  from  the  school  records,  mathematics 
grades  were  contrasted  with  the  averages  in  United 
States  history  and  commercial  geography.  His  results 
are  almost  exactly  opposite  to  those  of  Lewis  and  lead 
to  the  conclusion  that  "with  the  exception  of  from  20- 
25  per  cent,  of  erratic  people,  those  good  in  mathe- 
matics are  good  in  other  subjects,  those  of  average 
ability  in  mathematics  are  of  average  ability  in  other 
subjects  and  those  poor  in  mathematics  are  poor  in 
other  subjects." 

Rietz  and  Shade  (38)  used  college  records  and  found 
high  correlation  between  efficiency  in  mathematics 
and  natural  science  and  also  between  efficiency  in 
mathematics  and  in  foreign  languages. 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  33 

B.  Elementary  and  High-School  Pupils.  Winch 
(67,  68)  was  most  painstaking  in  his  elaborate  investi- 
gations with  school  children.  In  his  efforts  to  de- 
termine if  improvement  in  nmiierical  accuracy  trans- 
fers, he  tried  five  series  of  experiments,  using  different 
schools,  standards  or  grades,  and  neighborhoods. 
In  the  first  four  series  he  divided  the  class  into  two 
groups  on  the  basis  of  record  in  arithmetical  process. 
After  one-half  had  iDeen  trained  on  exercises  in  ''rule" 
sums,  a  final  test  in  arithmetical  reasoning  was  given 
to  both  groups.  There  was  an  improvement  in  ac- 
curacy of  numerical  computation  during  practice. 
The  first  series  of  experiments  was  performed  with 
girls  from  a  poor  neighborhood.  Standards  VI  and 
VII,  and  ages  13  years.  He  found  that,  while  an  im- 
provement was  shown  by  the  practised  group  in 
numerical  acciu-acy,  it  was  insuflScient  to  transfer. 
In  his  second  series  of  experiments,  he  used  girls  from 
a  poor  neighborhood,  Standard  II,  age  10  years.  He 
found  considerable  improvement  in  the  practice  series 
and  this  was  transferred  to  the  final  problem  work. 
"Whereas  the  numerical  accuracy  of  the  non-practised 
group  was  decidedly  superior  to  that  of  the  practised 
group  in  the  preliminary  tests,  yet  after  the  practice 
period,  the  position  of  the  two  groups,  section  by 
section,  is  reversed."  But  from  one  of  his  tables,  he 
decided  that  it  would  be  unsafe  to  conclude  that  any 
transfer  of  accuracy  had  taken  place.  The  third 
series  of  experiments  was  given  to  girls  of  a  good  neigh- 
borhood but  of  poor  abiUty  in  arithmetic.  Standard 
III,  age  10  years.  He  found  a  positive  correlation 
between  reasoning  and  accuracy  and  improvement  in 
numerical  accuracy  within  the  practice  series.  He 
states  that  ''there  certainly  appears  to  be  an  advan- 


34  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

tage  on  the  side  of  the  practised  group  in  the  second, 
third,  and  lowest  sections,  but  the  highest  is  worse 
in  comparison  of  the  prehminary  and  final  tests." 
In  the  fourth  series  of  experiments,  boys  were  em- 
ployed; they  were  from  a  poor  neighborhood,  did  good 
work  in  arithmetic,  were  from  Standard  III,  and 
aged  10  years.  There  was  found  to  be  a  high  correla- 
tion between  reasoning  and  accuracy  and  very  con- 
siderable improvement  in  the  practice  series.  Every 
section  in  both  groups  showed  improvement  in  arith- 
metical reasoning.  He  thinks  that  the  improvement 
may  possibly  be  due  to  natural  growth  and  to  other 
branches  of  school  instruction.  From  these  four 
series  of  experiments,  he  concludes  that  it  seems  pos- 
sible to  improve  the  accuracy  of  numerical  computa- 
tion without  any  certainty  of  thereby  improving  the 
accuracy  of  arithmetical  reasoning.  "Therefore,  pend- 
ing more  conclusive  experiments,  numerical  accuracy 
should  be  sought  for  because  it  is  valuable  in  actual 
life  and  not  because  of  improvement."  In  a  later 
investigation,  he  utilized  a  class  of  72  boys,  of  Stand- 
ard III,  with  an  average  age  of  10  years.  He  gave  six 
tests  in  arithmetical  reasoning,  which  enabled  him  to 
divide  the  class  into  two  equal  groups,  one  of  which 
was  practised  in  arithmetical  computation  while  the 
other  was  occupied  in  drawing.  After  10  practice 
exercises,  six  final  tests  were  given  to  all.  There  was 
marked  improvement  in  the  computation,  but  he 
found  no  evidence  of  the  transfer  of  this  improvement 
to  arithmetical  reasoning. 

Stone  (51)  investigated  the  arithmetical  abilities  of 
6A  pupils,  the  time  expended,  and  the  materials  of 
the  course  of  study  used  in  securing  these  abilities. 
Twenty-six  school  systems  from  various  parts  of  the 
country  were  examined.     Tests  in  fundamentals  and 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  35 

reasoning  were  used,  requiring  the  marking  of  GOOO 
papers.  He  reached  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a 
lack  of  correspondence  among  the  systems  in  funda- 
mentals and  reasoning;  likewise  in  the  four  funda- 
mental operations;  and  in  rapidity  and  accuracy. 
"On  the  whole,  ability  in  reasoning  implies  ability  in 
fundamentals  no  more  than  ability  in  such  a  subject 
as  English  implies  ability  in  mathematics  in  general, 
and  not  so  much  as  ability  in  English  implies  ability 
in  such  subjects  as  geography  and  history."  In 
answer  to  one  of  his  problems,  he  stated  that  the  nature 
of  the  product  of  the  first  six  years  of  arithmetic  is 
complex  and  that  the  "net  result  is  several  products, 
rather  than  a  product."  He  also  discovered  that 
there  was  a  lack  of  relationship  between  time-cost 
and  abilities  produced,  likewise  a  lack  of  relation 
between  abilities  and  a  good  course  of  study. 

Lewis  (30)  in  his  high-school  tests,  asked  the  ques- 
tion: "Is  there  a  reasoning  faculty,  which,  by  exer- 
cise in  mathematics,  can  be  made  stronger  for  other 
kinds  of  reasoning,  as  in  law  or  business?"  Two  tests, 
one  containing  originals  in  geometry  and  the  other 
questions  in  practical  reasoning,  were  given  to  24  dif- 
ferent groups  of  pupils.  He  found  that  63  per  cent, 
of  the  good  mathematicians  were  at  the  foot  of  the 
practical  reasoning  series,  and  of  those  at  the  foot  of 
mathematical  reasoning,  47  per  cent,  were  at  the 
head  of  practical  reasoning.  From  this  and  from  his 
investigation  with  the  Dartmouth  students,  he  con- 
cluded that  the  "reasoning  faculty  is  a  myth,"  for 
"students  able  in  mathematical  reasoning  are  not 
even  generally  able  in  practical  reasoning  and  law."i 

'  I  am  informed  by  Professor  Rietz,  of  the  University  of  Illinois,  that 
the  original  data  obtained  by  Lewis  do  not,  in  fact,  warrant  the  con- 
clusions drawn  from  them. — Editor. 


36  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLTNE 

2.  Spelling.  Wallin  (59)  investigated  the  question 
whether  spelHng  efficiency  acquired  in  column  drills 
transfers  to  dictated  compositions.  He  dictated  work 
in  which  lists  of  words  occurred  which  had  been  pre- 
viously learned  by  drill.  He  also  dictated  a  column 
of  words.  Only  words  on  the  list  in  both  cases  were 
counted.  He  concluded  that  the  ''data  obtained 
furnished  conclusive  evidence  in  favor  of  an  affirm- 
ative answer."  The  average  loss  of  efficiency  through 
transfer  from  dictated  column  to  composition  was 
1.44  per  cent,  while  there  were  five  instances  in  which 
there  was  an  actual  transfer  gain.  He  concluded 
therefore  "that  column  drills  in  spelling  may  produce 
a  positive  increment  of  spelling  efficiency  in  dictated 
compositions  or  connected  writing." 

3.  English  Grammar.  Briggs  (9),  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  disciplinary  effects  of  formal  English  gram- 
mar, gave  54  tests  to  from  25-30  children  of  the  2d- 
7th  grades  in  the  Horace  Mann  School.  Among  the 
tests  were  those  to  discover  the  ability  to  see  likenesses 
and  differences;  the  ability  to  judge,  amend  when 
faulty,  and  to  apply  a  definition  thoroughly;  the 
ability  to  make  a  rule,  to  judge  reasons,  to  select  facts, 
to  reason  in  arithmetic;  the  ability  to  reason  syllo- 
gistically,  to  detect  catches,  to  make  prompt  and 
accurate  associations,  to  follow  directions,  to  correct 
errors  and  point  off  sentences,  and  tests  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  formal  grammar  after  the  training  period. 
Three  30-minute  periods  per  week  during  six  months 
were  devoted  to  the  investigation.  The  first  set  of 
tests  was  given  to  all  the  children.  Then  for  three 
months,  the  children  of  one  room  were  drilled  in 
formal  grammar,  wherein  emphasis  was  laid  on  gram- 
mar as  a  strict  science  and  an  attempt  to  secure  a 


EXPEETMENTAL   IN\^STIGATIONS  37 

general  ideal  of  method  (like  Ruediger's)  was  made. 
During  this  time,  the  second  room  of  children  did 
work  in  composition  and  language.  There  were  then 
given  the  second  set  of  tests,  after  which  the  condi- 
tions were  reversed  for  three  months  in  the  two  rooms. 
Finally,  the  first  set  of  tests  was  given  again  to  all 
the  children.  From  his  results  Briggs  concludes  that 
'Hhese  particular  children  after  the  amount  of  formal 
grammar  that  they  had,  do  not,  as  measured  by  the 
means  employed,  show  in  any  of  the  abilities  tested 
improvement  that  may  be  attributed  to  their  training 
in  formal  grammar."  "The  burden  of  proof  now 
rests  with  those  who  believe  in  a  strengthening  mental 
discipline  from  formal  granmiar." 

4.  Mental  Traits.  A.  Memory.  Sleight  (46),  in  order 
to  discover  if  memory  training  is  general  or  specific, 
experimented  with  two  classes  of  women  students  in 
a  Training  College,  the  average  age  being  18-19. 
The  tests  were  of  immediate  memory  and  made  use 
of  letters,  nonsense  syllables,  dates,  poetry,  and  prose 
substance. 

Sleight  also  investigated  the  same  question  with 
three  classes  of  pupils  aged  11-12  years  in  three  dif- 
ferent schools.  Each  class  was  tested  with  10  differ- 
ent kinds  of  memory  material  and  then  sorted  into 
four  groups  of  equal  average  ability.  One  group  was 
practised  on  poetry,  the  second  on  tables,  the  third 
on  reproducing  the  gist  of  prose,  while  the  fourth  re- 
ceived no  training.  After  three  weeks  of  practice,  a 
second  series  of  tests  was  followed  by  three  more 
weeks  of  practice,  in  turn  followed  by  a  third  series 
of  tests.  The  tests  made  use  of  letters,  dictation, 
names,  geographical  places,  nonsense  syllables,  dates, 
poetry,  prose,   substance  of  prose,   and  points  in   a 


38  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

circle.  A  new  feature  was  a  cyclic  arrangement  by- 
means  of  which  all  three  test  series  could  be  considered 
equal  in  difficulty.  Finally,  some  time  after  the  third 
series,  a  fourth  series  was  given. 

The  results  with  both  the  college  and  elementary 
pupils  showed  no  general  improvement  of  the  prac- 
tised over  the  unpractised.  In  nonsense  syllables 
there  was  considerable  improvement  of  the  trained 
over  the  untrained,  but  only  with  those  who  practised 
on  poetry  or  tables.  This  was  ascribed  to  the  presence 
of  rhythm  as  a  common  element  and  the  deduction 
is  made  that  the  effects  of  practice  are  transferable 
when  common  elements  exist.  Practice  in  prose 
substance  effected  an  improvement  in  that  form  of 
memory,  and  in  no  other;  it  had,  in  fact,  a  disastrous 
effect  on  the  power  to  memorize  mechanically.  The 
conclusion  is  reached  that  "we  must  therefore  face  the 
fact  that  some  practice  has  the  effect  of  diminishing 
the  power  to  memorize  some  other  material." 

Winch  (63-66)  has  conducted  four  elaborate  series 
of  memory  experiments  with  school  children,  two  to 
ascertain  if  memory  is  improvable  with  practice  and 
two  to  discover  if  improvement  in  memory  is  trans- 
ferable. In  studying  immediate  memory,  he  exposed 
sets  of  consonants  to  view  for  a  short  time.  The 
subjects  were  25  girls  of  Standard  VII,  ages  12-15, 
and  33  boys  of  Standards  VI  and  VII,  ages  11-14. 
His  conclusion  from  these  two  sets  of  experiments 
was  that  a  wider  range  of  age  and  standard  would  be 
necessary  to  answer  questions  as  to  the  improvability 
of  memory  by  practice,  improvement  with  age,  and 
relation  to  general  intellectual  proficiency.  A  second 
series  of  experiments  was  then  given  to  39  girls, 
Standards  II-VIII,  and  ages  8-14,  chosen  on  an  age 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  39 

basis.  Results  were  compared  with  the  school  marks 
over  the  space  of  one  year.  He  concluded  that  mem- 
ory improved  with  practice,  that  general  mental 
ability  is  accompanied  by  ''good  memory,"  that 
"good  memory"  is  usually  accompanied  by  general 
proficiency,  and  that  there  is  a  general  improvement 
rising  with  age  and  standard.  Another  series  of 
experiments  was  given  to  girls  from  two  divisions  of 
Standard  VI,  six  from  the  upper  and  six  from  the 
lower  division,  and  with  the  same  results.  In  a  later 
series  of  experiments  on  auditory  memory,  conducted 
along  similar  lines  to  those  just  described,  he  verified 
his  conclusions  with  visual  memory.  He  attempted 
to  answer  the  question:  "Is  the  improvement  in  mem- 
ory gained  through  practice  in  one  subject  of  instruc- 
tion, transferred  to  another  subject  which  has  not 
been  practised?"  He  divided  each  class  into  two 
groups  of  equal  ability,  determined  partly  by  test  and 
partly  by  the  opinion  of  the  teacher.  He  gave  three 
series  of  experiments  to  girls  from  Standards  VI  and 
VII,  average  age  of  12-13,  and  from  three  schools  of 
different  neighborhoods.  In  all  cases,  the  practice 
was  on  poetry,  while  in  two  cases  the  tests  were  his- 
torical and  in  the  other  geographical.  While  the  prac- 
tised half  was  studying  poetry,  the  other  group  was 
occupied  in  writing  or  working  sums.  In  the  three 
series,  he  found  that  the  practised  group  was  superior 
to  the  unpractised  and  therefore  concluded  that 
"improvement,  gained  by  practice  in  memorizing  one 
subject  of  instruction,  is  transferred  to  memory  work 
in  other  subjects  whose  nature  is  certainly  diverse 
from  that  in  which  the  improvement  was  gained." 
This  conclusion,  he  goes  on  to  say,  is  true  for  this 
age  and  the  attainments  of  these  children.     In  another 


40  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

article  on  the  transfer  of  improvement  in  memory  in 
school  children,  he  reported  his  results  in  answer  to 
the  problems:  ''Whether  there  is  any  transfer  of  im- 
provement in  rote  memory  for  meaningless  things  to 
substance  memory  for  stories  (1)  by  an  auditory 
method,  (2)  by  a  visual  method,"  and  "whether  there 
is  any  transfer  of  improvement  in  rote  memory  for 
things  with  meaning — for  example,  poetry — to  sub- 
stance memory  for  stories."  He  conducted  three 
series  of  experiments.  The  first  series  was  given  to 
boys  and  girls  of  Standard  III,  of  an  average  age  of 
10  years.  Three  preliminary  tests  in  substance  mem- 
ory consisting  of  stories  read  aloud,  also  some  tests  in 
rote  memory  for  meaningless  things  consisting  of 
consonants  read  aloud,  were  given,  and  the  class  was 
divided  into  two  equal  groups  on  the  basis  of  the 
tests  in  substance  memory.  One  group  received 
three  practice  exercises  in  rote  memory,  while  the 
other  group  drew  difficult  geometrical  designs.  Then 
a  further  test  in  substance  memory  was  given  to  both 
groups.  The  results  showed  an  improvement  within 
the  practice  medium  itself  from  11.9,  the  first  prac- 
tice test's  average  mark  per  child  per  test  to  15.8 
average  mark  per  child  for  the  third  test,  out  of  a 
maximum  of  24.  The  comparison  of  the  final  and 
preliminary  tests  shows  that  there  is  a  steady  improve- 
ment, which  is  greatest  in  the  practised  group;  and 
"about  as  much  or  more  improvement,  reckoned  in 
percentages,  as  has  been  made  in  the  practice  medium 
itself — rote  memory  for  meaningless  things — has  been 
transferred  to  the  substance  memory."  The  second 
series  of  experiments  was  with  girls  of  Standard  IV, 
age  10  years.  Four  tests  in  substance  memory,  con- 
sisting of  written  stories,  were  given,  and  as  a  result. 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  41 

the  class  was  divided  into  two  equal  groups.  Through 
several  weeks  one  of  the  groups  did  13  practice  per- 
iods of  9  exercises  each  in  rote  memorj^,  consisting  of 
the  learning  of  consonants  exposed  visually,  and  the 
other  group  worked  exercises  in  arithmetic.  Then 
both  groups  worked  four  more  tests  in  substance 
memory.  There  was  an  improvement  within  the 
practice  medium  itself;  also  "both  groups  show  im- 
provement in  the  final  tests  and  it  seems  fan*  to  sup- 
pose that  the  excess  of  improvement  in  the  practised 
over  the  unpractised  group  may  be  a  measure  of  im- 
provement due  to  the  special  practice  in  rote  memory." 
In  the  unpractised  group  there  was  an  improvement 
of  16  per  cent.,  while  in  the  practised  group  there  was 
an  improvement  of  21  per  cent.,  probably  due  to 
special  practice.  In  the  third  series  of  experiments, 
the  girls  were  from  Standard  V,  12  years  of  age  and 
backward  in  scholarship.  There  were  four  tests  on 
substance  memory  for  stories,  followed  by  division 
of  the  class  into  two  equal  groups.  One  group  prac- 
tised rote  exercises  on  poetry.  Then  four  final  tests 
were  given  to  both  groups.  All  the  work  was  done 
visually.  The  results  showed  an  improvement  in 
rote  memory  for  every  individual  in  the  practised 
group;  and  ''the  excess  improvement  of  the  practised, 
about  6  per  cent,  in  the  final  test,  may  perhaps  be 
attributed  to  the  effect  of  the  practice  exercises  in 
rote  memory."  His  conclusions  from  these  experi- 
ments in  regard  to  the  transfer  of  improvement  in 
memory  are:  "Improvement  through  practice  in 
rote  memory  is  foUowed  by  improvement  in  substance 
memories  for  stories."  "Improvement  by  practice 
in  one  mental  function  may  produce  an  miprovement 
in  the  other." 


42  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

B.  Habits.  Squire  (3)  insisted  on  neatness  and 
accuracy  in  the  preparation  of  the  arithmetic  papers 
by  the  13  pupils  in  the  second  half  of  a  third  grade. 
It  was  found  that  there  was  an  improvement  in  the 
arithmetic  papers,  but  that  this  did  not  transfer  to 
the  language  and  spelling  papers,  in  which  there  was 
a  decrease  in  both  accuracy  and  neatness. 

C.  Concentration  of  attention.  Miss  Aiken's  (1) 
experiments  on  the  concentration  of  attention  by  the 
use  of  daily  exercises  to  quicken  the  perceptive  facul- 
ties, to  cultivate  the  habit  of  accuracy  in  seeing  and 
hearing,  and  to  cultivate  quickness  of  discrimination, 
and  their  amazing  results  have  already  been  referred 
to. 

Dallenbach's  (13)  problem  was  to  find  out  the 
effect  of  a  daily  drill  for  15  minutes  conducted  during 
a  period  of  17  weeks.  The  subjects  were  11  girls  and 
18  boys,  of  ages  7-10.  The  materials  consisted  of 
charts,  of  numbers,  letters,  words,  geometrical  figures, 
etc.  The  experiment  lasted  for  17  weeks,  and  com- 
prised a  week  of  fore-practice  followed  by  a  week  of 
tests  with  4  weeks  of  drill;  the  two  latter  alternated 
until  4  weeks  of  tests  and  12  weeks  of  drill  series  had 
been  given.  Ten  months  later,  another  test  series 
was  given  to  31  children,  19  of  whom  had  had  the 
training.  His  conclusions  are  that  the  effect  of  drill 
is  persistent,  and  that  boys  surpass  girls  in  visual 
apprehension.  During  the  following  school  term, 
there  was  a  striking  general  rise  in  the  school  grades 
of  these  pupils,  seemingly  due  to  his  formal  drill 
exercises,  also  a  special  test  by  the  Aussage  method, 
showed  that  the  practised  children  were  superior  in 
recall  and  description  to  their  unpractised  school- 
mates when  tested  some  50  weeks  after  the  termina- 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  43 

tion  of  the  special  drill.  '' Original  work  of  drilling 
the  children  has  produced  a  training  that  has  not  only 
persisted,  but  also  'spread'  to  some  extent  to  other 
functions."  He  concluded  that  he  has  ''evidence  in 
favor  of  a  restricted  belief  in  formal  discipline." 

D.  Observation.  Bennett  (6)  investigated  to  find 
the  result  of  special  practice  in  discriminating  different 
saturations  of  blue  upon  other  sense  powers  in  the 
case  of  16  children,  11  years  old,  from  the  Speyer 
School  of  Teachers  College.  A  Milton-Bradley  color 
wheel  was  used  with  a  set  of  the  larger  and  smaller 
disks.  The  children  recorded  their  judgments  with 
an  /  or  0  according  as  the  saturation  of  the  inner  disk 
or  outer  disk  was  greater  or  with  an  S  if  it  was  the 
same  for  both.  Preliminary  and  final  tests  were  in 
discrmiinating  different  mixtures  of  red  and  white, 
of  yellow  and  green,  of  orange  and  black,  and  different 
pitches.  They  practised  with  the  blue  and  white 
disks  for  half  an  hour,  twice  a  week,  from  October  to 
March.  Bennett  found  that  ability  to  discriminate 
different  saturations  of  blue  increased  with  practice 
in  the  training  series.  Ability  to  discriminate  differ- 
ent mixtures  of  red  and  white,  of  yellow  and  green, 
and  of  orange  and  black  was  greatly  improved  in  the 
final  tests.  In  most  cases,  there  was  an  improvement 
in  the  test  series,  both  before  and  after  training. 
There  was  an  improvement  of  20  per  cent,  for  the 
boys  and  23  per  cent,  for  the  girls  in  discrimination 
of  pitch,  but  it  was  ''not  at  all  commensurate  with 
that  in  the  color  field."  He  concludes  that  "training 
in  the  discrimination  of  some  colors  is  highly  effective 
in  the  discrimination  of  others,  much  less  so  with 
tones." 

E.  Quickness,  accuracy,  attention,  etc.  Norsworthy 
(36)  sought  to  find  individuals  with  differences  in  one 


44  THE   DOCTRINE   OF  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

trait,  then  to  measure  those  individuals  in  other 
traits  and  to  compare  the  results.  Tests  were  given 
in  multiphcation,  in  observing  misspelled  words,  in 
marking  words  containing  e  and  r,  in  observing  the 
word  hoy  wherever  it  occurred,  and  in  marking  semi- 
circles scattered  amongst  all  sorts  of  geometrical 
forms.  Results  led  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  "prob- 
able that  certain  functions  which  are  of  importance  in 
school-work,  such  as  quickness  in  arithmetic,  accuracy 
in  spelling,  attention  to  forms,  etc.,  are  highly  special- 
ized and  not  secondary  results  of  some  general  func- 
tion." In  other  words,  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
general  memory,  quickness,  accuracy,  or  observation. 

F.  Ideas  of  Method.  Judd  (2)  required  two  groups 
of  pupils  in  the  5th  and  6th  grades  to  hit  with  a  small 
dart  a  target  which  was  placed  under  twelve  inches  of 
water.  The  difficulty  involved  was  due  to  deflection 
of  light  through  refraction.  One  group  was  given  a 
full  theoretical  explanation  of  refraction  while  the 
other  was  kept  in  ignorance.  The  results  of  the  first 
test  were  the  same  for  both  groups.  Then  the  twelve 
inches  of  water  were  reduced  to  four.  The  boys 
ignorant  of  the  theory  were  very  much  confused,  while 
the  others  were  not.  "Theory  was  not  of  value  until 
it  was  backed  by  practice."  The  conclusion  is  there- 
fore drawn  that  "every  experience  has  in  it  the  possi- 
bilities of  a  generalization,"  Here  there  was  a  trans- 
ference of  method. 

G.  Ideals.  Ruediger  (40)  tested  the  point:  "Does 
the  ideal  of  neatness  brought  out  in  connection  with, 
and  applied  in,  one  school  subject  function  in  the 
other  school  subjects?"  He  experimented  with  83 
pupils  from  the  7th  grade  of  three  schools,  each  in  a 
different   city.     In   the  written   work   of   one   school 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  45 

subject,  he  paid  all  the  attention  possible  to  the  habit 
and  ideal  of  neatness.  He  talked  with  the  class 
about  neatness,  though  not  referring  specifically  to 
the  other  school  subjects.  He  collected  at  least  three 
papers  in  each  subject  before  he  brought  up  the  matter 
of  neatness  and  then  one  or  more  papers  a  week  in 
three  or  more  subjects.  The  experunent  covered 
eight  weeks.  The  marks  for  all  school  subjects  were 
raised  although  the  gain  was  greater  in  the  subject  in 
which  neatness  had  been  emphasized.  '^  Evidently 
neatness  made  conscious  as  an  ideal  or  aim  in  connec- 
tion with  one  school  subject  does  function  in  other 
school  subjects."  He  would  ascribe  transference  to 
''identity  of  aim." 

Reviewing  the  pedagogical  experiments,  as  in  the 
psychological,  we  find  two  camps  with  reference  to 
the  question  of  transfer.  Starch,  Collins,  Rietz 
and  Shade,  Wallin,  Winch,  Ruediger,  Dallenbach, 
Aiken,  Bennett,  and  Judd  found  evidences  of  a  spread 
of  training  or  of  correlation  of  abilities.  Lewis, 
Stone,  Briggs,  Sleight,  and  Squire,  because  of  their 
results,  would  not  subscribe  to  the  doctrine,  at  least 
in  the  aspects  that  they  studied.  Of  these  investi- 
gators, certainly  the  most  elaborate  experiments  were 
performed  by  Winch  and  Sleight;  and  unfortunately 
for  the  solution  of  the  problem,  they  disagree.  Starch 
ascribes  the  evident  transfer  to  the  "identical  ele- 
ments" in  the  practice  and  test  series,  while  there 
was  no  transfer  from  arithmetical  computation  to 
auditory  memory  span.  In  Wallin's  experiments, 
transfer  of  spelling  efficiency  from  column  drills  to 
dictated  composition  may  likewise  be  ascribed  to 
"identical  elements."  Winch's  conclusion  that  "im- 
provement  gained   by   practice   in    memorizing    one 


46  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

subject  is  transferred  to  memory  work  in  other  sub- 
jects whose  nature  is  certainly  diverse  from  that  in 
which  the  improvement  was  gained"  is  criticised  by 
Bagley  (3)  on  the  ground  that  "the  nature  of  the 
subject-matter  is  not  so  diverse  as  to  exclude  alto- 
gether the  operation  of  identical  elements,  nor  is  the 
difference  betw^een  the  two  groups  in  memory  capacity 
at  the  close  of  the  test  so  great  that  one  needs  to  as- 
sume a  'general'  function  of  memory  has  been  trained." 
Ruediger  ascribes  transference  to  ''identity  of  aim," 
and  Judd's  target  experiment  illustrates  the  trans- 
ference of  "identity  of  procedure  or  method."  Lewis, 
while  finding  no  evidence  of  the  correlation  of  reason- 
ing ability  in  mathematics  and  law,  believes  like 
Ruediger,  and  Bagley  in  the  transference  of  ideals. 
Sleight,  like  Judd  and  Bergstrom,  found  evidence  of 
interference  effects.  From  such  a  varied  mass  of  re- 
sults and  explanations,  it  is  impossible  to  do  more 
than  speculate  as  to  the  validity  or  falsity  of  the 
doctrine  in  connection  with  pedagogical  investiga- 
tions. 

Summary  of  the  Historical  Review. 

After  this  necessarily  brief  review  of  some  thirty 
psychological  experiments  and  twenty-odd  pedago- 
gical ones,  it  is  important  to  discover  the  consensus 
of  belief  arrived  at  by  scientific  investigation.  Ebert 
and  Meumann,  Coover  and  Angell,  Judd,  Winch, 
Wallin,  Fracker,  Urbantschitsch,  Miinsterberg,  Dal- 
lenbach,  and  Spearman  may  be  considered  among 
the  more  prominent  proponents  of  the  doctrine  of 
formal  discipline.  On  the  other  hand  Thorndike 
and  Woodworth,  Stone,  Sleight,  Burt,  Heck,  Whipple, 
Swift,  Bolton,  DeGarmo,  Henderson,  Jastrow,  Nors- 
worthy,  and  Squire,  either  as  a  result  of  personal  in- 


EXPERIMENTAL   INVESTIGATIONS  47 

vestigation,  or  a  review  of  experimental  work  in  this 
field,  align  themselves  in  the  main  with  the  opposi- 
tion. Nearly  all  admit  improvability  with  practice 
and  its  transference  to  material,  similar  or  closely 
related  in  content  or  form.  Prominent  among  the 
believers  in  a  "spread  of  training"  where  ''identical 
elements"  exist  are  Thorndike  and  Woodworth, 
Whipple,  Starch,  and  Sleight.  The  term  ''Identical 
Elements"  covers  much;  it  includes  identity  of  sub- 
stance or  content,  identity  of  form  or  procedure, 
identity  of  aim  or  ideal.  All  psychologists  seem  to  be 
in  accord  that  where  there  is  identity  of  substance, 
improvement  increases  according  to  the  general  laws 
of  a  practice  curve  until  a  physiological  limit  has  been 
reached.  Among  those  who  emphasize  identity  of 
method  or  procedure  as  an  explanation  of  transfer- 
ence, with  great  stress  on  the  importance  of  concen- 
tration of  attention,  are  Thorndike  and  Woodworth, 
Miinsterberg,  Angell,  Coover,  Bagley,  Ruger,  Judd 
and  Fracker.  Ruediger,  Ruger,  Lewis,  and  Bagley 
are  impressed  with  the  necessity  for  an  aim  or  ideal. 

Probably  Spearman  (48),  in  his  able  article  on 
Qualified  and  Unqualified  "Formal  Training,"  has 
expressed  the  idea  that  will  bring  reconciliation  be- 
tween the  two  opposing  factions  when  he  states  that 
the  "attack  is  not  against  formalism  utterly,  but 
against  unqualified  formalism."  He  advances  four 
qualifications:  (1)  Transference  is  not  peculiar  to 
form.  "As  far  as  economy  is  concerned,  all  sorts  of 
training,  formal,  material,  or  a  mixture,  would  ap- 
pear to  be  about  on  an  equal  footing."  (2)  Transfer 
must  always  be  regarded  quantitatively.  After  a 
review  of  Sleight's  experiments,  the  conclusion  is 
drawn  that  "it  is  evident  that  the  training  is  indeed 


48  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

transferred  from  one  material  to  another,  but  only  in 
proportion  to  the  similarity  between  them."  (3) 
Transference  is  not  always  improvement.  He  cites 
conclusions  of  Judd,  Fracker,  and  Sleight  in  support. 
(4)  There  is  a  need  of  separation  for  transfer.  For 
example,  procedure  may  be  developed  into  a  clearly 
conceived  method;  this  thenceforth  becomes  an  inde- 
pendent, and  sometimes  exceedingly  useful  tool  of 
thought.  An  instance  is  Judd's  experiment  with  the 
target  under  water.  ''An  even  more  important  in- 
stance of  separating  an  element  from  the  complex  in 
which  it  occurs  is  the  evolution  of  particular  impulses 
into  a  general  maxim  or  ideal."  Compare  Squire's 
negative  results  with  Ruediger's  positive  ones.  He 
concludes  by  saying  that  the  "two  chief  opposing 
schools  are  at  cross  purposes ;  the  one  is  defending  what 
may  be  called  qualified  formalism,  while  the  other  is 
attacking  unqualified  formalism."  The  great  problem 
is  "how  these  facts  are  to  be  utilized  in  there-ordering 
of  our  educational  system." 


PART  II.    ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION. 

I.  Introduction. 

The  original  investigation  was  undertaken  to  secure 
experimental  data  in  regard  to  one  of  the  aspects  of 
the  doctrine  of  formal  discipline,  expressed  in  familiar 
language  of  ''training  observation."  Little  has  been 
done  upon  this  problem  experimentally.  Several  per- 
sons, as  has  been  noted  in  the  historical  part  of  this 
essay,  have  investigated  the  transfer  of  improvement 
of  rote  memory  to  substance  memory,  the  transfer  of 
arithmetical  abilities,  and  the  transfer  of  reasoning 
abilities.  This  particular  ''faculty"  or  habit  of  obser- 
vation was  selected  because  the  writer,  a  teacher  of 
biology,  could  give  the  tests  in  the  ordinary  routine 
of  the  classroom  without  seriously  disturbing  the  re- 
quired work  and  also  without  the  subjects  suffering  the 
disadvantages  incurred  when  the  tests  are  foreign  to 
the  immediate  school  program  and  conducted  by  a 
stranger.  No  explanations  were  made  to  the  pupils 
as  to  the  object  of  the  experiments.  In  connection 
with  a  previous  experiment,  they  had  had  a  few  tests 
somewhat  similar  to  several  of  the  non-biological  tests. 
The  results  of  these  tests  had  been  reported  to  the 
pupils  individually  at  the  conclusion  of  the  entire  set 
of  tests  and  had  been  tabulated  on  the  board  by  record- 
ing the  name  and  percentage  of  the  pupil  receiving  the 
highest  rating  in  each  test.  This  previous  experience 
may  have  acted  as  an  incentive  in  the  present  work,  as 
they  were  told  that  they  would  again  be  mformed  of 
the  results.  When  all  three  series  of  experiments  had 
been   completed,   pupils  were  given  their  individual 

49 


50  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

ratings  in  the  various  tests,  with  tabulation  of  the 
names  and  percentages  of  the  leaders  for  each  test  of 
the  three  series  of  all  three  classes. 

II.  Subjects. 

The  subjects  were  all  pupils  in  the  first  term  of  the 
freshman  class  of  a  New  York  City  High  School. 
When  the  third  series  of  tests  was  given  they  had  entered 
upon  the  second  term.  These  pupils  were  distributed 
in  three  classes. 

Class  1  had  12  boys  and  20  girls;  Class  2  had  10  boys 
and  18  girls;  Class  3  had  12  boys  and  12  girls  whose 
results  are  tabulated  in  the  following  pages.  Several 
others  in  each  class  took  the  tests,  but  because  of  irre- 
gular attendance,  absence  from  one  whole  series  of 
tests  or  more,  or  because  there  was  an  odd  number  of 
boys  or  girls  after  division  into  two  equal  groups,  their 
results  had  to  be  discarded. 

The  ages  of  the  pupils  varied  from  12  to  17. 

Class  1,  average  age,  boys  13.7;  girls  14      years. 

Class  2,         "         "        "    14.1;     "     13.8      " 

Class  3,        "         "        "    13.8;     "     14.1      '' 

III.  Time  Schedule  of  Tests. 

The  tests  in  the  first  and  second  series  were  given  in 
the  afternoon.  Class  1  recited  from  12:50-1:30;  Class 
2  recited  from  1:35-2:15;  Class  3  recited  from  2:15- 
2:55.  The  tests  were  given  immediately  after  the  class 
had  assembled. 

The  first  series  of  tests  was  given  on  April  22,  23, 
24,  25,  26,  29,  30.  The  practice  series  occurred  on  the 
10  school  days  from  May  15  to  28.  The  second  series 
of  tests  was  given  on  June  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  10,  11.  The 
third  series  of  tests  was  given  on  November  4,  6,  8,  11, 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  51 

12,  13,  14.  Between  the  second  and  third  series,  the 
classes  were  promoted  and  were  not  kept  intact.  The 
classes  during  the  third  series  recited  during  the  three 
periods  from  9:30  to  11 :45. 

IV.  Practice  Series. 

On  the  basis  of  averages  obtained  from  the  tests  of 
the  first  series,  each  class  was  divided  as  nearly  possible 
into  two  groups.  In  each  class  effort  was  made  to 
place  the  pupil  receiving  the  higher  average  of  the  two 
highest  pupils  on  the  side  which  was  to  receive  no  prac- 
tice, while  the  second  highest  was  placed  in  the  division 
to  be  practised.  This  method  was  continued  until  the 
list  was  exhausted.  Thus  among  successive  pairs,  there 
was  usually  a  slight  advantage  on  the  non-practised  side, 
and  the  totals  of  the  two  groups  in  all  three  classes 
showed  the  non-practised  side  to  have  the  advantage 
at  the  end  of  the  preliminary  tests. 

On  May  15,  the  practice  series  was  begun  and  con- 
tinued for  ten  minutes  daily  until  the  expiration  of 
two  weeks.  WTiile  the  one  half  of  the  class  was  observ- 
ing and  describing  the  biological  material  of  the  prac- 
tice series,  the  other  half  was  writing  answers  to  ques- 
tions on  topics  previously  assigned  for  home-study  from 
the  text-book.  The  text-book  work  was  required  of 
all  for  outside  study,  but  only  the  non-practised  half 
WTote  answers  to  questions.  In  order  to  prevent 
failure  to  do  the  assignment,  the  pupils  were  not  in- 
formed in  regard  to  the  procedure  until  the  class  assem- 
bled each  day  of  the  practice  tests.  AU  the  other 
biological  work  was  the  same  for  all  classes.  The 
classes  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  reason  for  division 
into  two  groups  during  the  practice  weeks,  and  al- 
though they  were  quite  interested  as  to  the  cause  and 


52  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

speculated  somewhat  about  it,  no  reference  to  the 
previous  tests  was  made  as  an  explanation.  It  ap- 
peared, however,  that  the  non-practised  half  considered 
that  the  practised  half  must  be  superior  as  they  were 
chosen  to  do  the  extra  tests.  The  reverse,  however, 
was  true  for  successive  pairs  as  far  as  the  preliminary- 
tests  were  concerned.  None  of  the  pupils  knew  that  a 
second  or  a  third  series  was  to  be  undertaken  until 
each  was  actually  begun.  They  were  then  reminded 
of  the  previous  tests,  informed  that  they  would  learn 
their  results  later,  and  that  comparisons  would  be  made 
between  their  work  in  the  first  and  second  series  of 
the  tests.  Absolutely  no  reference  was  made  to  the 
practised  or  unpractised  half,  and  it  was  not  apparent 
that  the  pupils  thought  that  there  was  any  connection 
between  the  practice  and  the  series  of  tests. 

During  the  practice  series,  while  actually  engaged 
in  the  ten  minutes'  daily  practice,  the  practised  were 
separated  from  the  unpractised.  During  both  the 
first  and  second  series  and  throughout  the  term,  the 
pupils  occupied  the  seats  which  had  been  individually 
assigned  to  them  at  the  beginning  of  the  term. 

V.  Method  of  Conducting  the  Tests. 

The  directions  were  given  orally.  Before  each  test, 
paper  was  distributed  to  each  pupil,  who  ruled  it,  if 
the  nature  of  the  test  so  required,  inscribed  his  name 
thereupon,  and  was  informed  of  the  content  or  material 
of  the  test.  From  previous  experiments,  the  pupils 
had  learned  to  obey  directions,  and  collect  papers  with 
almost  military  precision.  The  signals  used  were: 
Start!  Stop!  Look!  Write!  Draw!  Collect! 

Time  was  kept  by  the  second-hand  of  a  watch. 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  53 

VI.  Details  of  the  Tests. 
Series  I,  April  22  to  SO. 

Test  1.  April  22.  Each  pupil  received  a  twig  of 
horse  chestnut  with  an  unopened  bud  and  one  with 
developing  leaves.  The  direction  given  was  to  write  a 
complete  description  of  these  stems.     Time  10  minutes. 

Test  2.  April  23.  A  picture  was  suddenly  exposed 
for  30  seconds,  and  the  pupils  were  permitted  5  minutes 
to  write  down  their  descriptions. 

The  picture  represented  a  girl  clad  in  an  old  fashioned,  gaily  colored 
dress.  Standing  up  on  its  hind  legs  beside  the  girl,  was  a  large  dog, 
while  several  puppies  were  frohcking  on  the  ground.  The  background 
indicated  a  country  scene  with  rocks,  trees,  and  hills  in  the  distance  and 
a  water-fall  near-by. 

Test  3.  April  23.  Each  pupil  received  a  forsythia 
flower  and  was  directed  to  write  a  complete  description. 
Time  5  minutes. 

Test  4.  April  24.  Ten  nonsense  syllables  of  two 
letters  each,  printed  in  two  rows  on  oak  tag,  were  ex- 
posed for  30  seconds.  (See  Fig.  1.)  Pupils  were 
directed  to  place  the  right  syllable  in  the  right  place. 
One  minute  was  allowed  to  write  them. 

Test  5.  Branches  of  lilac  leaves  were  distributed  to 
each  pupil,  and  directions  given  to  write  a  complete 
description  of  the  lilac  leaves.     Time  8  minutes. 

Test  6.  April  25.  A  nonsense  figure  (Fig.  2)  con- 
sisting of  10  Hnes,  drawn  with  black  pencil  on  oak  tag, 
was  exposed  for  30  seconds  and  one  minute  was  allowed 
for  drawing  it. 

Test  7.  April  25.  A  chart  (Fig.  3)  having  10 
geometrical  figures  in  two  rows,  drawn  with  black  pen- 
cil on  oak  tag,  was  exposed  for  30  seconds,  following  the 
direction  to  draw  the  right  figure  in  the  right  space  of 
their  paper,  which  had  been  ruled  beforehand  bv  the 


54  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


«  5 

S  c 

2 


■ 

o 

to 

a 

b 

o 

• 

a^ 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


55 


d 


56  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 


N \ 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


57 


« 

lO 

to 

to 

t-1 

(O 

<0 

>* 

lO 

c» 

K> 

ca 

r4 

a> 

<o 

58  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

pupils.  Three  minutes  were  allowed  for  reproduction 
of  the  figures. 

Test  8.  April  26.  A  chart  having  ten  two-place 
numbers  in  two  rows  printed  on  it  (Fig.  4)  was  exposed 
for  30  seconds  with  the  direction  to  place  the  right 
combination  in  the  right  space  on  their  ruled  paper. 
One  minute  was  allowed  for  recording. 

Test  9.  April  29.  Pupils  were  permitted  to  ex- 
amine specimens  of  scouring  rush  or  horsetail  for  one 
minute  and  then,  with  the  specimens  hidden  from  view, 
were  given  five  minutes  to  describe  their  observations. 

Test  10.  April  29.  In  a  similar  manner,  they  were 
allowed  one  minute  to  examine  a  maple  seedling  and  5 
minutes  to  describe  it  from  memory. 

Test  11.  April  30.  A  colored  chart  with  various 
anatomical  features  of  the  pea  flower  was  exposed  for 
30  seconds,  an  allowance  of  5  minutes  was  made  for 
description.  This  test  was  not  used  in  the  comparison 
of  the  three  series,  because  it  was  found  that,  as  the 
pupils  had  not  yet  studied  flowers,  they  were  unable 
through  lack  of  technical  terms  to  describe  much  that 
they  had  seen. 

Test  12.  April  30.  A  figure  was  outlined  in  the  air 
with  a  pencil  point.  (See  Fig.  5).  Pupils  were  in- 
formed that  10  lines  would  be  drawn  and  that  at  the 
end  they  were  to  reproduce  tliem  on  paper. 

Test  13.  May  1.  A  colored  chart  of  the  potato 
plant,  similar  to  Test  11,  was  exposed,  but  was  not 
used  in  the  scries,  for  the  same  reason  as  in  Test  11. 

For  the  nature  of  the  practice  series  which  was 
carried  on  May  15  to  19  and  May  22  to  26,  consult  the 
tabular  statement,  page  69. 

Series  II.     June  3  to  11. 
Test   1.     June  3.     Each  pupil  received  a  twig  of 
sassafras  and  was  allowed  10  minutes  to  write  as  com- 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


59 


60  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

plete  a  description  as  possible.  Because  of  a  change  in 
the  program,  Class  3  did  not  recite  on  this  day  and 
was  unable  to  take  the  test. 

Test  2.  June  4.  Another  picture  was  exposed  for 
30  seconds  and  five  minutes  were  permitted  for  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  picture. 

A  little  girl  in  a  pink  dress  was  standing  near  a  brass  table  in  a  richly 
fximished  room.  Rugs  covered  the  hard-wood  floor  and  an  easy  chair 
and  pillow  were  in  the  foreground.  A  large  vase  of  cattails  and  palms 
was  on  the  floor  and  another  containing  pampas  grass  was  on  the  table. 

Test  3.  June  4.  Syringa  flowers  were  distributed 
to  each  pupil  and  five  minutes'  allowance  was  made  for 
a  description. 

Test  4.  June  5.  Another  chart  with  ten  nonsense 
syllables  of  two  letters  each  was  exposed  for  30  seconds. 
The  arrangement  was  like  Fig.  1,  but  the  syllables  were: 
ro,  fe,  cu,  eh,  ad,  in,  og,  na,  qi,  ub.  One  minute  was 
given  for  recording  the  syllables  in  the  right  place. 

Test  5.  June  5.  A  branch  of  forsythia  leaves  was 
distributed  to  each  pupil,  and  eight  minutes'  time  was 
given  in  which  to  write  as  complete  a  description  as 
possible. 

Test  6.  June  6.  Another  nonsense  figure  of  ten 
lines  (Fig.  6)  was  exposed  for  30  seconds.  Allowance 
for  reproduction  was  one  minute. 

Test  7.  June  6.  Ten  geometrical  figures  (Fig.  7) 
were  exposed  on  a  chart  for  30  seconds  after  the  ad- 
monition to  place  the  figure  in  the  correct  place. 
Three  minutes  were  allowed  to  draw  the  figures. 

Test  8.  June  7.  Ten  two-place  figures  (similar  to 
Fig.  4)  were  exposed  on  a  chart  for  30  seconds.  One 
minute  was  allowed  for  recording  in  the  proper  places. 

Test  9.  June  10.  A  fruiting  moss  plant  was  dis- 
tributed to  each  pupil.    After  one  minute's  observa- 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION 


61 


d 

HI 


62 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


o 
1^ 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  63 

tion  the  material  was  put  out  of  sight  and  five  minutes 
were  allowed  to  record  observations. 

Test  10.  June  10.  A  pumpkin  seedling  was  treated 
in  a  similar  manner  to  Test  9. 

Test  11.  June  11.  A  colored  chart  of  a  grape 
flower  was  exposed  for  30  seconds  and  5  minutes'  time 
was  allowed  for  recording.  This  was  not  used  in  the 
comparison  of  the  series. 

Test  12.  June  11.  Another  figure  of  ten  lines 
(Fig.  8)  was  indicated  by  tracing  the  figure  with  a 
pencil  point  in  the  air.  When  completed  the  pupils 
drew  what  they  had  seen. 

Test  13.  June  12.  A  colored  chart  of  the  wild 
carrot  was  exposed  for  30  seconds  and  5  minutes  were 
allowed  for  a  description.  This  test  was  not  used  in 
the  final  comparison. 

Series  III.     November  6  to  I4. 

After  the  summer  vacation,  the  writer,  having  in  an 
advanced  class  all  of  the  pupils  that  had  both  remained 
in  school  and  had  been  promoted  and  not  having  had 
time  yet  to  rate  the  papers  of  the  second  series,  deemed 
that  it  might  be  useful  to  give  a  third  series  of  tests. 
The  pupils  were  now  studying  zoology  and  physiology, 
whereas  during  the  previous  term  they  had  been  study- 
ing botany.  The  pupils  were  reminded  of  the  previous 
tests,  told  that  they  would  learn  their  results  (which 
had  been  delayed  because  of  the  interruption  of  the 
investigator's  plans  by  other  imperative  demands) 
and  were  asked  to  undertake  a  third  series  of  tests. 

The  third  series  could  not  be  conducted  until  Novem- 
ber, and  unfortunately,  the  biological  material  avail- 
able afforded  little  variety  and  was,  I  think,  on  the 
whole  more  difficult  to  describe.  Besides,  the  pupils 
had  not  studied  botany  since  June,   and  moreover, 


64 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


00 

6 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION  65 

they  may  have  thought  that  botanical  material  would 
not  count  toward  their  grades  in  a  zoological  course. 

Test.  1.  Nov.  4.  Pupils  received  branches  of 
willow.  Ten  minutes  were  allowed  for  a  complete 
description. 

Test  2.  Nov.  6.  Another  picture  was  exposed  for 
30  seconds,  and  five  minutes  were  allowed  for  writing. 

A  typical  Holland  scene  was  indicated  by  the  wooden  shoes  and  the 
peasants'  caps  of  the  boy  and  girl  in  the  foreground.  The  girl  (hold- 
ing a  baby  in  her  anns)  was  standing  on  a  wharf,  while  the  boy  who 
was  seated  on  a  pile  was  just  pulling  something  out  of  the  water  at  the 
end  of  a  long  Une  attached  to  his  fishing  pole.  In  the  background  were 
lawns,  trees,  and  several  small  houses. 

Test  3.  Nov.  6.  Each  pupil  received  a  flower  of 
sweet  alyssum  and  was  allowed  five  minutes  for  record- 
ing observations. 

Test  4.  Nov.  8  A  chart  with  10  nonsense  syllables 
of  two  letters  each,  printed  on  oak  tag,  was  exposed  for 
30  seconds  and  one  minute  allowed  for  recording. 
The  arrangement  was  like  that  of  Fig.  1,  but  the  syl- 
lables were :  gi,  re,  qo,  ib,  om,  ep,  da,  uh,  av,  cu. 

Test  5.  Nov.  8.  Honeysuckle  branches  were  dis- 
tributed and  eight  minutes  given  for  descriptions. 

Test  6.  Nov.  11.  A  nonsense  figure  (Fig.  9)  was 
exposed  for  30  seconds  and  one  minute  was  allowed  for 
its  reproduction. 

Test  7.  Nov.  11.  A  chart  (Fig.  10)  with  10  geo- 
metrical figures  was  exposed  for  30  seconds.  Three 
minutes  were  given  for  reproduction. 

Test  8.  Nov.  12.  A  chart  with  ten  two-place 
figures  (like  Fig.  4)  was  exposed  for  30  seconds.  One 
minute  for  recording. 

Test  9.  Nov.  13.  Each  pupil  received  a  pressed 
fern  frond,  was  allowed  one  minute  for  observation, 
and  five  minutes  for  description  from  memory. 

Test  10.  Because  of  inability  to  obtain  any  material, 
suitable  for  comparison  with  these  tests  in  the  other 
series,  the  test  was  omitted. 


66 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


67 


(JZJ 


68 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


69 


Test  11.  Nov.  14.  The  chart  of  the  buttercup 
flower  was  exposed  for  30  seconds  and  5  minutes  were 
allowed  for  description.     This  test  was  not  used. 

Test  12.  Nov.  14.  Another  figure  of  ten  lines 
(Fig.  11)  was  outlined  in  the  air  with  the  tip  of  the 
experimenter's  pencil.  The  pupils  reproduced  it  on 
paper. 

Test  13.  Nov.  15.  A  chart  of  the  poppy  flower  was 
exposed  for  30  seconds  and  five  minutes  allowed  for 
description,  but  it  was  not  used  in  the  series. 

The  following  tabular  arrangement  will  serve  to  bring  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  test  material  into  compact  presentation. 


No.     Date 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 


5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
10 


April 

22 

23 

23 

24 

24 

25 

25 

26 

29 

29 

30 

30 

May 
1 


Date 

May 
15 
16 
17 

20 

21 
22 
23 
24 
27 
28 


SERIES  1 

Test                       Exposure  Time  for 

recording 

Horsechestnut  stem  10  min. 

Picture                                 30  sec.  5  min. 

Forsythia  flower  5  min. 

10  syllables                          30  sec.  1  min. 

Lilac  leaves  8  min. 

Nonsense  figure                  30  sec.  1  min. 

Geometrical  figures            30  sec.  3  min. 

10  2-place  figures                30  sec.  1  min. 

Scouring  rush                        1  min.  5  min. 

Maple  seedUng                      1  min.  5  min. 

Pea  chart                             30  sec.  5  min. 
Figure  in  air 

Potato  chart                       30  sec.  5  min. 
Practice  Series 

Material  Recording 

Description  of  the  lilac  flower  Ten 

Description  of  the  box-elder  leaf  minutes 

Description  of  the  stem,  leaf,  and  for 

flower  of  gill-run-over-the-ground  each 

Description  of  flower-stalk  and  test 

flowers  of  the  Uly-of-the-valley 
Description  of  the  horsechestnut  flower 
Description  of  the  buttercup  flower 
Description  of  the  mustard  flower 
Description  of  the  dogwood  flower 
Description  of  the  deutzia  flower 
Description  of  the  columbine  flower 


70 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


SERIES  2 

No. 

Date 
June 

Test 

Exposure 

Time  for 
recording 

1 

3 

Sassafras  stem 

10  min. 

2 

4 

Picture 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

3 

4 

Syriusu  flower 

5  min. 

4 

5 

10  syllables 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

6 

5 

Forsythia  leaves 

8  min. 

6 

6 

Nonsense  figure 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

7 

6 

Geometrical  figures 

30  sec. 

3  min. 

8 

7 

10  2-place  figures 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

9 

10 

Moss  plant 

1  min. 

5  min. 

10 

10 

Piunpkin  seedling 

1  min. 

5  min. 

11 

11 

Grape  chart 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

12 

11 

Figure  in  air 

13 

12 

Wild  carrot 

SERIES  3 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

No. 

Date 
Nov. 

Test 

Exposure 

Time  for 
recording 

1 

4 

Willow  stem 

10  min. 

2 

6 

Picture 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

3 

6 

Alyssum  flower 

5  min. 

4 

8 

10  syllables 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

5 

8 

Honeysuckle  leaves 

8  min. 

6 

11 

Nonsense  figure 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

7 

11 

Geometrical  figures 

30  sec. 

3  min. 

8 

12 

10  2-place  figures 

30  sec. 

1  min. 

9 

13 

Fern  frond 

1  min. 

5  min. 

10 

11 

14 

Buttercup  chart 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

12 

14 

Figure  in  air 

13 

15 

Poppy  chart 

30  sec. 

5  min. 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATIONS  71 

VII.   Marking  the  Tests  and  Use  of  the  Scores. 

The  author  was  assisted  in  the  marking  of  the  tests 
by  her  sister,  who  had  had  four  years  of  office  experience 
in  one  of  New  York's  elementary  schools.  She  rated 
the  4th,  7th,  and  8th  tests  of  each  series.  Both  rated 
together  the  6th  and  12th  tests  of  each  series.  The 
author  herself  rated  Tests  1,  2,  3,  5,  9,  10.  Tests  11 
and  13  were  discarded. 

Rating  of  the  Tests  of  Series  1. 

Tests  1,  2,  3,  5,  9,  10  were  rated  in  the  following 
manner:  one  credit  was  allowed  for  every  descriptive 
noun,  adjective,  verb,  and  adverb.  In  fact,  every 
word  or  statement  presenting  an  idea,  a  modification 
of  that  idea,  or  an  action,  was  allowed  one  credit. 
Credit  was  not  allowed  for  the  same  word  repeated 
in  several  connections.  The  rating  therefore  indicates 
the  sum  total  of  the  observations  made  in  regard  to 
the  object. 

Tests  4,  7,  8  were  rated  in  the  following  manner: 
10  credits  were  allowed  for  each  correct  syllable,  correct 
geometrical  figure  and  correct  two-place  number  which 
was  also  correctly  placed;  thus  as  there  were  10  of 
each,  it  was  possible  to  obtain  100  per  cent.  If  the 
correct  syllable,  correct  geometrical  figure,  or  correct 
two-place  number  was  displaced  one  more  to  the  right, 
left,  above,  or  below,  one  credit  was  deducted,  if  two 
places  to  the  right  or  left,  two  credits  were  deducted, 
etc. 

Tests  6  and  12  were  rated  in  the  following  manner: 
one  credit  was  given  to  each  correct  line  of  the  ten 
comprising  the  figure.  It  was  not  required  that  the 
figures  of  Test  12  should  be  entirely  symmetrical,  but 
full  credit  was  given  for  each  line  that  indicated  that 
the  subject  knew  approximately  the  direction  of  the 
lines. 


72  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

Use  of  Results  of  Series  1 . 

The  average  was  obtained  of  the  results  of  each 
pupil's  work  in  the  eleven  tests.  These  averages 
formed  the  basis  of  the  division  of  the  classes  for  the 
practice  series. 

In  each  class,  the  boy  receiving  the  highest  average 
was  placed  on  the  non-practised  side  while  the  boy  with 
the  next  highest  average  was  placed  on  the  side  to 
receive  practice.  This  was  continued  until  the  list 
was  exhausted.  The  same  method  was  followed  with 
the  girls. 

Rating  of  the  Practice  Series. 

All  of  the  ten  tests  of  the  practice  series  were  rated 
by  the  investigator  in  the  same  manner  as  were  Tests 
1,  2,  3,  5,  9,  10.  The  tests  were  rated  in  the  order  in 
which  they  had  been  given:  No.  1  first  and  No.  10  last. 

Rating  of  the   Tests  of  Series  2  and  3. 

Test  1  of  Series  2  was  rated  and  then  Test  1  of  Series 
3  was  rated  for  the  same  pupil.  The  grading  of  these 
tests  was  then  carefully  compared  with  the  rating 
of  Tests  1  of  Series  1  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  any 
discrepancy  in  the  rating.  This  method  was  followed 
for  each  pupil  throughout  the  six  tests. 

Tests  4,  7,  8,  of  the  2d  and  3d  series  were  rated  in 
the  following  manner :  After  the  assistant  had  carefully 
reconsidered  her  marking  of  Test  4  in  Series  1,  she 
rated  Test  4  of  Series  2  and  then  of  Series  3.  The 
same  method  was  followed  in  Tests  7  and  8. 

Tests  G  and  12  were  rated  by  both  markers,  working 
together.  Each  pupil's  three  test  papers  in  the  three 
series  were  compared  individually  to  establish  improve- 
ment or  decrease  of  ability  of  that  particular  individual. 
The  investigators  then  agreed  upon  the  rating  to  be 
allowed  each  test. 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION  73 

Method  of  Treating  the  Scores, 

Averages  were  made  for  each  pupil  in  each  series 
from  the  rating  given  to  each  test  as  described  above. 

Ratings  of  Tests  1,  2,  3,  5,  6,  9,  10,  and  12  were  re- 
duced to  the  percentage  basis  by  multiplying  each 
rating  by  the  fraction  in  each  test  of  each  series  re- 
quired to  make  the  highest  rating  100  per  cent,  for  that 
test  in  that  particular  series. 

On  the  basis  of  the  data  acquired  by  both  methods, 
tables  have  been  made  to  compare  the  practised  and  the 
unpractised  pupils  of  each  class  in  two  respects  in 
regard  to  (1)  their  ability  in  the  biological  tests  and 
(2)  their  ability  in  the  non-biological  tests. 

In  case  of  the  occasional  absence  of  a  pupil,  the 
figures  for  that  test  had  to  be  omitted  from  similar 
tests  in  each  of  the  three  series,  in  other  words,  the 
series  were  made  homogeneous. 

Therefore,  another  table  was  made,  consisting  only 
of  pupils  who  had  been  present  at  all  the  tests  of  two 
or  more  series,  while  still  another  table  was  compiled 
of  the  data  of  those  pupils  who  had  been  present  at 
all  three  series  of  tests. 

Tables  showing  the  basis  of  the  division  for  the  prac- 
tice groups  are  presented. 

The  class  ratings  in  biology  of  the  test  pupils  for  the 
year  during  which  the  tests  were  performed,  are  recorded 
together  with  then-  ratings  in  the  state  examination. 

From  all  of  these  various  tables,  comparisons  and 
conclusions  are  made,  and  finally  the  results  of  the 
present  investigation  are  compared  with  those  of  other 
workers  in  the  pedagogical  field. 


74  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

TABLE  I.  ORIGINAL  SCORES. 
Class  I,  Series  I. 

Tests 
Boys  123456789      10  12  Total    Aver.  Age 

Garratt 14  23  20  69  21 

Hart 12  11  18  70  18 

Hugger 18  19  16  68  8 

Jaegers 8  15  6  80  14 

Johnston..  ..16  27  6  80  7 

Lefkowitz...   5  14  17  47  13 

Rhodius 22  41  22  49  21 

Ricomla 10  23  17  49  8 

Waller 29  23  32  78  23 

Walsh 17  19  16  60  11 

Weber 14  23  15  70  14 

Wetjen 9  16  50  7 

Wild 22  18  18  40  13 

Girls 

Clute 26  30  23  40  14 

Cohen 80  19 

Conradi 21  21  20  48  15 

Engels 35  30  26  69  25 

Geffert 22  34  16  100  11 

Haag 17  20  15  70  15 

Hamilton.  ..21  37  28  49  29 

Howard 33  30  19  68  27 

Ilch 36  47  33  80  37 

Kolach 27  29  16  50  29 

Kelly 25  32  30  25 

Kelly,  K....24  34  20  70  20 

Krumholz..  .25  39  23  90  23 

Man\varing..29  39  21  60  17 

McGreevy...28  39  32  70  31 

Millang 17  27  20  50  22 

Murtagh....l6  24  21  50  11 

Perry 26  17  10  69  13 

Savage 28  24  19  79  18 

Schmidt 31  40  26  60  33 


10 

71 

60 

22 

18 

7 

335 

30.45 

14 

6 

28 

59 

12 

13 

2 

249 

22.63 

14 

10 

70 

79 

18 

14 

10 

330 

30 

13 

6 

80 

70 

8 

10 

8 

305 

27.72 

15 

3 

57 

37 

7 

17 

257 

25.7 

14 

8 

43 

40 

19 

15 

5 

226 

20.54 

14 

6 

50 

60 

27 

11 

2 

311 

28.27 

13 

5 

49 

12 

11 

8 

192 

19.2 

14 

8 

69 

70 

16 

14 

6 

368 

33.45 

14 

4 

37 

50 

15 

13 

2 

244 

22.18 

15 

8 

50 

58 

14 

11 

5 

282 

25.63 

14 

8 

70 

67 

8 

1 

4 

240 

24 

13 

6 

42 

67 

11 

4 

9 

250 

22.72 

13 

9 

60 

73 

4 

279 

31 

17 

4 

75 

83 

26 

20 

2 

309 

38.62 

13 

3 

60 

29 

13 

22 

1 

253 

23 

14 

6 

60 

50 

24 

19 

9 

353 

32.09 

13 

5 

80 

70 

19 

23 

9 

389 

35.36 

14 

4 

48 

50 

10 

16 

5 

270 

24.54 

14 

7 

79 

50 

24 

24 

3 

351 

31.9 

15 

4 

38 

38 

17 

21 

1 

296 

26.9 

14 

6 

40 

39 

25 

24 

7 

374 

34 

13 

1 

36 

80 

17 

22 

3 

310 

28.18 

13 

3 

60 

21 

21 

5 

222 

24.66 

15 

8 

40 

69 

16 

18 

7 

326 

29.63 

14 

6 

50 

74 

28 

18 

7 

383 

34.81 

13 

4 

70 

50 

10 

17 

3 

320 

29.09 

14 

8 

70 

60 

26 

30 

4 

398 

36.18 

15 

9 

70 

50 

7 

272 

30.22 

16 

1 

50 

56 

13 

12 

4 

258 

23.45 

14 

6 

60 

58 

14 

13 

3 

289 

26.27 

13 

8 
9 

60 
60 

70 
60 

11 
23 

13 
28 

6 

8 

336 
378 

30.54 
34.36 

14 
13 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  75 


TABLE  1.  ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 

Class  I,  Series  II. 

Tests 

Boys                  123456  7  89  10     12      Total 

Garratt 36  24  24  90  22  10  80  80  22  24 

Hart 16  27  21  59  13       7  30  80  20  14 

Hugger 8  26  15  70  8  10  70  100  12  13     10 

Jaegers 20  13  19  79  18  10  66  77  17  19 

Johnston 22  19  10  70  13  8  90  50  15  10 

Lefkowitz 26  27  20  40  36  10  60  30  20  23 

Rhodius 41  44  24  60  22  9  80  40  22  22 

Riconda 11  18  18  60  12  7  80  80  13  16 

Waller 19  13  18  60  15  10  79  92  14  11 

Walsh 12  35  13  70  12  6  70  50  16  9 

Weber 16  28  18  79  14  9  90  80  15  13 

Wetjen 22  9  9  77  15  10  70  53  10  10 

Wild 24  18  10  57  9  5  49  49  14  9 

Girls 

Clute 30  28  22  60  26  10  80  89  20  19 

Cohen 27  32  14  40  26  9  60  71  23  23 

Conradi 25  24  16  50  25  9  47  58  15  18 

Engels 35  30  28  38  40  8  60  36  24  31 

Geffert 28  22  18  100  27  9  100  100  26  20 

Haag 36  32  23  59  19  7  70  54  21  19 

Hamilton 37  35  33  50  35  8  70  25  29 

Howard 34  40  23  89  31       2  50  26  22  19 

Ilch 31  39  27  60  22       7  90  74  23  22 

Kolseh 37  27  19  76  31       5  47  57  19  22 

Kelly 38  27  26  50  29  5  80  42  19  21 

Kelly,  K 26  37  16  70  18  9  90  74  16  16 

Kruinholz 29  24  19  60  25      8  80  68  22  17 

Manwaring 25  29  22  60  20      7  90  80  24  19 

Millang 33  22  24  80  29  10  50  77  19  18 

Perry 34  14  15  30  13      8  78  80  14  12 

Savage 25  20  20  90  21      7  70  70  17  16 

Schmidt 42  35  30  58  39      8  60  48  22  31 


8 

420 

3 

290 

.0 

342 

4 

342 

8 

315 

7 

299 

5 

369 

9 

324 

7 

338 

1 

294 

7 

369 

5 

290 

8 

252 

2 

386 

3 

328 

7 

294 

7 

337 

7 

457 

3 

343 

3 

325 

3 

339 

6 

401 

0 

340 

0 

337 

6 

378 

3 

355 

4 

380 

2 

364 

1 

299 

5 

361 

9 

382 

76 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  1.    ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  I,  Series  III. 


Tests 

Boys 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

12 

Total 

Garratt 

20 

36 

27 

70 

25 

10 

60 

60 

14 

5 

327 

Hugger 

28 

19 

13 

60 

6 

10 

80 

58 

13 

7 

294 

Johnston..  .  . 

29 

37 

12 

80 

18 

10 

50 

70 

13 

9 

328 

Lef  kowitz . . . 

25 

27 

27 

40 

27 

10 

50 

50 

15 

8 

279 

Rhodiua 

21 

39 

20 

70 

24 

10 

60 

69 

20 

7 

340 

Waller 

22 

33 

20 

90 

22 

10 

70 

70 

13 

4 

354 

Walsh 

24 

26 

13 

68 

15 

10 

56 

59 

6 

2 

279 

Wet  j  en 

25 

20 

10 

48 

15 

10 

59 

46 

22 

3 

258 

Wild 

23 

23 

19 

80 

11 

10 

58 

49 

17 

5 

295 

Girls 

Engels 

34 

29 

24 

38 

28 

9 

70 

69 

24 

2 

327 

Geffert 

.  23 

37 

22 

80 

24 

10 

52 

72 

14 

5 

339 

Hamilton.  . . 

26 

32 

31 

50 

24 

8 

50 

46 

23 

10 

300 

Howard 

,  22 

44 

29 

60 

30 

6 

60 

50 

18 

5 

324 

Ilch 

34 

44 

28 

69 

26 

10 

67 

54 

28 

10 

370 

Kolsch 

,  32 

38 

19 

40 

27 

9 

20 

53 

13 

2 

253 

Kelly,     K.. 

.   17 

36 

20 

80 

24 

9 

50 

57 

22 

10 

325 

Krumholz. . 

.  27 

34 

20 

80 

29 

9 

80 

63 

17 

10 

369 

Manwaring. 

.  33 

38 

21 

60 

26 

10 

59 

60 

27 

5 

339 

Millang 

.   25 

21 

18 

50 

31 

10 

39 

79 

21 

8 

302 

Murtagh 

.  25 

29 

23 

79 

22 

9 

55 

60 

13 

3 

318 

Perry 

.   18 

32 

23 

40 

14 

8 

50 

60 

20 

3 

268 

Savage 

.  30 

26 

24 

60 

23 

10 

60 

70 

17 

2 

322 

Schmidt 

.   29 

39 

27 

50 

29 

10 

79 

20 

31 

10 

324 

OEIGINAL  INVESTIGATION  77 


TABLE  1.    ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  II,  Series  I. 

Tests 

Boys           123456789  10  12  Total  Aver.  Age 

Andrews....  23  46  28  50  27  2  40  60  19  20  5  320  29.09  14 

Bernhardt...  25  30  29  65  20  4  50  50  14  24  3  314  28.54  14 

Demarest.  ..23  29  27  69  29  9  80  68  24  19  7  384  34.909  14 

Dinneen 24  27  25  67  19  5  69  67  18  18  4  343  31.18  15 

FranlvHn....35  28  24  59  28  5  90  55  22  22  5  373  33.9  12 

Fricdland...28  32  22  60  17  3  50  39  24  24  0  299  27.18  13 

Kartell 15  25  19  80  19  5  50  18  14  3  248  24.8  15 

Mullady....24  14  18  77  17  6  50  24  16  3  249  24.9  14 

Schuler 20  32  20  90  22  3  50  69  22  18  10  356  32.36  13 

Smyth 26  11  22  70  15  9  50  67  13  14  6  303  27.54  14 

Vandevel....20  30  20  60  29  6  70  55  14  17  7  328  29.81  17 

Girls 

Blanc 35  34  22  100  20  9  70  66  28  20  8  412  37.45  14 

Blumen 17  3i  17  50  13  6  80  50  8  18  4  296  26.9  14 

Brady 22  16  13  70  18  7  50  59  17  14  9  295  26.81  15 

Dale8san....20  30  17  80  19  4  60  80  21  19  7  357  32.45  14 

Dehn 14  26  9  70  9  5  70  67  10  13  5  298  27.09  15 

Gannon 69  26  7  59  66  15  21  9  272  34  14 

Geissen 12  35  25  77  16  9  70  90  13  13  8  368  33.45  14 

Grodzic 14  30  18  90  16  10  80  60  15  17  5  355  32.27  14 

Hynes 30  29  34  58  20  6  59  30  16  24  306  30.6  15 

Inglis 23  34  24  90  18  7  60  80  16  21  6  379  34.45  13 

Keane 19  11  18  79  9  5  50  29  9  15  2  246  22.36  15 

Luft 23  25  30  90  18  5  68  58  22  21  5  365  33.18  14 

Luta 48  34  57  26  39  21  26  2  253  31.62  14 

Meyer 16  18  17  90  23  6  40  79  18  15  4  326  29.63  13 

Rehm 34  29  16  70  20  5  60  84  20  19  357  35.7  13 

Rudolf 25  33  24  60  22  4  69  49  19  24  6  335  30.45  13 

Schnering. . .  19  21  15  80  16  4  46  70  13  15  10  309  28.09  15 

Schreiner....l9  22  20  30  17  2  90  27  20  25  3  275  25  13 

Wunder 19  42  36  57  29  3  79  44  31  34  7  381  34.63  12 


78  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  I.     ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  II,  Series  II. 

Tests 

BoJJS                12345G  7         89       10     12      Total 

Andrews 32  43  28    39  19  9  60 

Bernhardt 34  22  24    70  22  9  79 

Demarest 42  27  28    69  36  7  70 

Dinneen 25  24  18    48  15  6  87 

Franklin 34  41  30    90  16  10  100 

Friedland 40  35  32    60  34  9  50 

Kartell 24  16  17     80  19  7  70 

MuUady 21  22  14    60  30  8  54 

Schuler 23  25  25  30  6  75 

Smyth 31  18  26    60  29  10  60 

Vandevel 29  27  27    70  28  6  60 

Girls 

Blanc 37  35  25  100  27  9  100 

Blumen 24  25  16    69  21  10  100 

Brady 22  20  16    50  22  7  80 

Dalessan 25  33  17  100  13  8  80 

Dehn 21                    60  10  9 

Gannon 29  30  17     62  22  7  79 

Geissen 29  24  24     70  22  10  100 

Grodzic 29  26  22  100  20  10  98 

Hynes 34  28  24    50  18  9  53 

IngUp 35  39  22    90  30  10  90 

Keane 19  22  12    48  12  7  76 

Luft 29  23  28    57  30  8  69 

Lutz 46  37  33    50  33  5  64 

Meyer 20  25  15    70  22  8  70 

Rehm 29  27  22    69  16  5  79 

Rudolf 30  34  25     58  20  10  90 

Schnering 18  24  17     80  20  9  80 

Schreiner 25  33  34    70  24  9  69 

Wunder 35  38  20    59  33  9  90 


59 

20 

22 

6 

337 

90 

17 

25 

5 

397 

70 

20 

26 

6 

401 

69 

10 

11 

4 

317 

64 

19 

25 

6 

435 

56 

29 

25 

4 

374 

50 

21 

15 

3 

322 

57 

25 

20 

2 

313 

77 

23 

21 

6 

311 

78 

20 

21 

7 

360 

67 

19 

19 

6 

358 

67 

24 

27 

8 

459 

59 

19 

17 

5 

365 

80 

17 

18 

9 

341 

60 

14 

23 

3 

376 

89 

18 

13 

2 

222 

70 

17 

21 

3 

357 

80 

17 

18 

7 

401 

68 

11 

16 

4 

404 

44 

19 

24 

3 

306 

80 

20 

25 

5 

446 

40 

11 

8 

3 

258 

71 

25 

21 

7 

368 

58 

27 

33 

2 

388 

87 

19 

11 

6 

353 

70 

26 

13 

9 

365 

43 

29 

19 

7 

365 

69 

19 

16 

3 

355 

50 

19 

16 

6 

355 

49 

22 

22 

6 

383 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


79 


TABLE  I.     ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  II,  Series  III. 


Tests 

Boys 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

12 

Total 

Andrews  . 

.  17 

34 

20 

49 

32 

10 

50 

38 

24 

5 

279 

Bernhardt. 

.  29 

33 

25 

68 

23 

10 

50 

60 

13 

5 

316 

Friedland. 

.  20 

36 

28 

38 

23 

7 

49 

80 

18 

3 

304 

Kartell.... 

.  28 

15 

16 

80 

17 

9 

60 

56 

18 

2 

301 

Mullady. . 

.  30 

27 

13 

60 

22 

8 

43 

69 

19 

3 

294 

Schuler. . . 

37 

23 

59 

25 

7 

60 

36 

23 

3 

273 

Girls 

Blanc 

.  40 

33 

28 

90 

24 

10 

67 

70 

26 

5 

393 

Blumen. . . 

.  31 

44 

17 

78 

18 

7 

90 

53 

19 

5 

362 

Bradv. . . . 

.  22 

25 

14 

40 

16 

10 

80 

60 

23 

5 

295 

Dalessan. . 

.  25 

36 

19 

64 

16 

10 

50 

80 

14 

6 

320 

Gannon . . . 

.  27 

33 

14 

80 

21 

7 

64 

68 

13 

2 

329 

Geissen. . . 

.  29 

38 

19 

70 

19 

10 

90 

70 

21 

10 

376 

Grodzic. . . 

.  16 

36 

21 

59 

14 

10 

90 

50 

17 

4 

317 

Inglis  .... 

.  32 

41 

30 

70 

27 

10 

80 

80 

27 

5 

402 

Keane. . .  . 

.  10 

17 

10 

47 

12 

10 

49 

38 

7 

3 

203 

Liift 

.  22 

32 

23 

68 

25 

10 

70 

56 

18 

4 

328 

Lutz 

.  37 

45 

28 

60 

33 

9 

80 

80 

29 

5 

406 

Meyer. . . . 

.  30 

32 

16 

40 

21 

10 

58 

59 

19 

2 

287 

Rehm 

.  23 

31 

18 

59 

24 

10 

69 

38 

13 

5 

290 

Rudolf.... 

.  30 

32 

26 

80 

22 

10 

90 

50 

22 

6 

368 

Schreiner. . 

..  25 

33 

23 

70 

24 

8 

80 

59 

17 

4 

343 

Wunder. . . 

.  37 

35 

27 

62 

36 

6 

48 

30 

24 

6 

311 

80  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  I.  ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 

Class  III,  Series  I. 

Tests 

Boys  123456789  10  12  Total  Aver.  Age 

Alliano 15  27  13  78  14  7    70  67  12  14  3  320  29.09  15 

Archimal....26  33  24  39  24  8    80  74  25  21  3  357  32.45  12 

Baldelli 27  21  15  59  21  7    90  69  15  21  3  348  31.63  14 

Bonoino 22  2>i  25  60  30  10    90  70  25  23  4  392  35.63  14 

Cohen 25  32  23  49  18  6    70  59  16  8  5  311  28.27  14 

Cullum 20  24  26  40  21  2     80  60  22  21  7  323  29.36  15 

Duff 28  39  16  80  27  5    90  70  22  30  6  413  37.54  14 

Friedman. ..  17  22  26  66  13  8     70  60  20  16  8  326  29.63  15 

Mietlike....27  31  13  36  18  4    60  30  17  19  7  262  23.81  14 

Ruppell 29  37  18  80  24  9  100  86  20  26  7  436  39.63  13 

Steiner 13  24  13  56  18  0    40  56  9  11  6  246  22.36  12 

Timmann...20  28  22  30  31  3    60  70  16  19  7  306  27.81  14 

Girls 

Brown 27  31  26  90  17  3    48  70  16  14  3  345  31.36  15 

Busby 20  32  26  68  19  3     77  70  18  20  6  359  32.63  13 

Duffy 28  27  26  90  5    48  27  15  266  33.25  14 

Duro 17  26  19  80  16  7     60  70  16  23  4  338  30.72  14 

Gallo 16  Zi  24  79  12  4    48  79  18  24  3  340  30.9  15 

George 18  35  19  80  15  6    50  48  16  20  0  307  27.9  15 

Hacker 24  25  25  50  25  80  23  22  8  282  31.33  15 

Hill 19  27  14  90  15  100  23  19  3  310  34.44  14 

Johnson 22  22  17  90  20  3     58  70  16  16  4  338  30.72  14 

Morton 15  18  20  90  22  6    89  20  17  8  305  30.5  14 

Netz 14  2,2,  19  50  20  5     60  76  17  24  4  322  29.27  14 

Sbarra 16  20  14  90  19  7     68  80  11  23  2  350  31.81  14 

Schulz 19  23  6  50  18  4    79  90  11  17  2  319  29  14 

Weed 23  21  19  50  14  2     59  50  19  13  2  272  24.72  16 

Woodbury...  27  29  29  60  32  5    90  68  19  16  5  380  34.54  13 


OKIGINAL   INVESTIGATIONS 


81 


TABLE  I.    ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  III,  Series  II. 


Boys 


Tests 
5      6 


10     12     Total 


AUiano 25  13  60  11  10 

Archimal 26  26  50  31  8 

Baldelli 18  22  70  20  6 

Bonomo 23  70  35  10 

Cohen 30  24  50  30  6 

CuUum 24  23  60  24  5 

Duff 35  34  70  31  5 

Friedman 32  24  70  23  8 

Miethke 25  20  80  32  9 

Ruppel 33  21  80  24  8 

Steiner 23  21  69  27  9 

Timmann 42  27  59  35 

Girls 

Brown 38  29  58  31  5 

Busby 31  26  80  23  6 

Duffy 32  34  49  15  5 

Duro 36  24  37  26  6 

Gallo 36  18  69  19  4 

George 80  13  0 

Hacker 33  21  60  24  9 

Hill 30  9  78  19  10 

Johnson 30  18  90  21  4 

Morton 27  20  78  13  6 

Netz 39  16  68  23  9 

Sbarra 17  15  68  24  9 

Schulz 27  8  50  24  6 

Weed 24  25  70  18  6 

Woodbury 31  18  64  29  9 


80 

41 

8 

3 

251 

90 

50 

28 

37 

8 

354 

80 

73 

21 

20 

7 

337 

100 

100 

28 

36 

7 

409 

40 

69 

22 

19 

4 

294 

70 

79 

22 

21 

6 

334 

70 

70 

30 

34 

4 

383 

90 

40 

21 

22 

3 

333 

100 

68 

22 

22 

3 

381 

80 

100 

29 

27 

2 

404 

80 

39 

15 

21 

4 

308 

70 

69 

26 

26 

2 

356 

58 

38 

27 

24 

4 

312 

80 

58 

18 

18 

6 

346 

37 

68 

19 

21 

8 

288 

70 

70 

20 

25 

4 

318 

90 

80 

24 

22 

3 

365 

70 

69 

15 

17 

2 

266 

90 

100 

18 

27 

8 

390 

100 

90 

18 

14 

8 

376 

86 

90 

16 

16 

5 

376 

90 

60 

22 

9 

5 

330 

70 

60 

21 

18 

3 

327 

90 

90 

18 

25 

3 

359 

80 

80 

16 

20 

4 

315 

80 

100 

13 

13 

4 

353 

85 

39 

20 

16 

4 

315 

82 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  I.     ORIGINAL  SCORES  (Continued). 
Class  III,  Series  III. 


Boys 


1  2 


Tests 
3  4  5  6 


12      Total 


Archimal. . . .  35  45 

Kaldelli 24  30 

Bonomo 26  38 

Cohen 39  34 

Cullum 25  40 

Duff 34  45 

Friedman.  .  .  17  36 

Miethke....  27  31 

Ruppel 27  38 

Steiner 28  2>i 

Girls 

Busby 30  38 

Duffy 29  39 

Duro 24  30 

GaUo a  37 

Hacker  ....  26  39 

Hill 30  27 

Johnson 22  33 

Morton 24  H 

Netz 13  38 

Sbarra 23  22 

Weed 25  32 

Woodbury...  28  31 


24 

60 

29 

10 

84 

75 

24 

5 

391 

16 

70 

13 

10 

79 

58 

27 

5 

332 

27 

46 

36 

7 

80 

78 

29 

2 

369 

23 

30 

2,i 

10 

76 

38 

29 

2 

314 

29 

50 

21 

8 

40 

82 

27 

3 

325 

27 

69 

36 

10 

70 

60 

24 

4 

379 

22 

39 

24 

10 

50 

70 

27 

6 

301 

13 

60 

23 

10 

60 

59 

27 

8 

318 

25 

70 

27 

10 

90 

37 

25 

3 

352 

21 

50 

22 

8 

40 

70 

17 

2 

291 

28 

100 

23 

10 

80 

78 

28 

5 

420 

27 

56 

22 

3 

50 

66 

28 

5 

325 

15 

50 

19 

10 

59 

66 

24 

2 

299 

22 

68 

20 

9 

68 

40 

21 

3 

321 

31 

50 

39 

10 

70 

50 

26 

5 

346 

21 

32 

10 

90 

70 

14 

3 

297 

16 

39 

19 

10 

70 

80 

24 

3 

316 

19 

70 

13 

9 

80 

80 

22 

8 

358 

17 

46 

16 

7 

67 

69 

21 

6 

300 

14 

80 

16 

10 

58 

70 

16 

2 

311 

22 

49 

16 

9 

50 

50 

13 

5 

271 

28 

48 

21 

10 

88 

58 

29 

4 

345 

OKIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  83 

Explanation  of  Table  1 

The  original  ratings  and  totals  of  each  pupil  in 
Series  I,  II,  and  III,  together  with  the  average  of  each 
pupil  in  Series  I  and  the  age  at  the  time  of  the  tests  of 
Series  I,  are  presented  in  Table  I. 

Blanks  indicate  that  pupils  were  absent  from  the 
tests. 

As  absences  were  so  frequent,  it  seemed  advisable 
during  the  tests  of  Series  II  and  III,  in  order  to  have 
sufficient  data  to  secure  results,  to  require  the  pupils  to 
perform  the  tests  either  before  or  after  school  as  soon 
as  possible  after  their  return.  No  deviation  from  the 
method  of  procedure  occurred.  A  careful  record  was 
kept  of  those  who  did  not  perform  the  tests  with  the 
class.  As  far  as  could  be  discovered,  there  seemed  to 
be  no  great  difference  between  the  ratings  secured  when 
the  test  was  performed  independently  and  the  average 
ratings  of  that  pupil  when  the  tests  were  performed  with 
the  class.  Of  course,  it  is  impossible  to  state  whether 
the  pupil's  rating  in  a  particular  test  would  have  been 
higher  or  lower  if  performed  with  the  class.  Some- 
times a  pupil  did  better  and  sometimes  worse. 

Comparison  of  Practised  and  Unpractised  Groups. 

Table  2  is  based  upon  the  scores  of  the  practised 
and  unpractised  pupils  in  all  three  series,  reduced  to 
percentages  as  explained  above  under  method  of  treat- 
ing the  scores. 

In  computing  it  we  disregarded  absences  and  also 
the  omission  of  Test  1  in  Series  II  by  Class  III  and 
Test  10  from  Series  III.  As  the  absences  are  about 
equally  divided  among  the  practised  and  unpractised, 
no  very  great  discrepancy  is  made  with  such  large 
totals. 


84  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

From  the  summary,  that  Table  2  provides,  it  will 
be  noticed  that  in  Series  1,  in  each  of  the  three  classes, 
the  unpractised  boys  and  unpractised  girls  have  higher 
totals  than  the  practised.  This,  of  course,  is  due  to 
the  intentional  division  for  the  practice  groups  to 
favor  the  unpractised. 

In  spite  of  the  omission  of  Test  1  from  Series  2  by 
Class  3,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  there  is  an  im- 
provement in  Series  2  over  Series  1  by  the  practised 
boys  of  Class  3  and  by  both  the  practised  and  unprac- 
tised girls. 

With  two  exceptions,  the  unpractised  boys  of  Class 
3  and  the  unpractised  girls  of  Class  1,  there  is  an  im- 
provement in  Series  2  over  Series  1.  These  two  excep- 
tions are  undoubtedly  due  to  the  omission  of  Test  1 
by  Class  3  from  Series  II  and  in  the  case  of  the  girls 
of  Class  1,  by  the  omission  of  the  whole  eleven  tests 
of  Series  II  by  one-girl  of  the  unpracticed  half. 

The  increase  of  Series  II  over  Series  I  of  the  seven- 
teen practised  boys,  even  with  the  omission  of  Test  1 
of  Series  II  by  Class  3,  is  1342.80.  Disregarding  ab- 
sences, these  seventeen  boys  performed  187  tests  in 
Series  II,  thus  making  an  increase  of  7.18  for  each 
individual  test.  Whereas  the  increase  of  Series  II 
over  Series  I  of  the  17  unpractised  boys  with  the  omis- 
sion of  Test  1  of  Series  II  by  Class  3  is  only  399.88, 
thus  making  an  increase  of  only  2.13  for  each  of  the 
187  tests  in  Series  II. 

The  twenty-five  girls  of  the  practised  half  of  Series 
II,  even  with  the  omission  of  Test  I  by  Class  3,  show 
an  increase  over  the  twenty-six  girls  of  Series  I  of 
143G.98.  Disregarding  absences,  these  twenty-five 
girls  performed  275  tests  in  Series  II,  thus  there  is  an 
increase  of  5.22  for  each  test.     Whereas  the  twenty- 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION 


85 


TABLE  2. 
CoMPARISo^T  OP  Practised  and  Unpractised  Groups  in  All  Tests. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

6 

>, 

o 

pq 

m 

m 

O 

eq 

CO 

m 

to 

O 

m 

U    1-1 

to 
o 

to   1 

'E  M 

I 

II 

III 

Total 

12 
10 
12 
34 

3143.04 

3121.47 

3879.82 

10144.33 

12 
10 
12 
34 

3963.28 

3538.55 

*3985.30 

11487.13 

8 

6 

10 

24 

2532.78 
1816.04 
3499.54 
7848.36 

3344.63 

3300.55 

4048.53 

10693.71 

3627.60 

3534.46 

*3931.53 

11093.59 

2362.35 
1781.72 
3432.99 
7577.06 

Increase  in  Series  II  1342.80 


399.88 


5 

to 

5 

to 

.2    M 
tj   h-l 

3 

CO    uj 

.2  m 

U    1— 1 

OQ 

to    , 

.2^ 

O   h-l 

I 

II 

III 

Total 

20 
18 
14 
52 

6249.87 

5683.01 

4119.51 

16052.39 

18 
18 
14 
50 

6630.22 

6651.89 

*4207.26 

17489.37 

12 

12 

8 

32 

4124.03 

4104.17 

2735.44 

10963.64 

6429.35 

5848.47 

4228.09 

16505.91 

5941.74 

6200.93 

*4449.69 

16592.36 

4011.01 

4144.15 

2606.43 

10761.59 

Increase  in  Series  II  1436.98 


86.45 


*  Test  I  omitted, 
t  Test  10  omitted. 

five  girls  of  the  unpractised  half,  show  an  increase  of 
86.45  in  Series  II  over  the  twenty-six  girls  of  Series  I. 
Thus  for  the  275  tests,  there  is  an  increase  of  only  .31 
for  each  test. 

With  regard  to  Series  III,  with  the  exception  of 
the  girls  of  the  unpractised  half  of  Class  2,  the  totals 
of  the  practiced  half  are  higher  than  those  of  the  cor- 
responding unpractised  half  in  each  class  for  both  boys 
and  girls. 


SG  THE    DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

It  is  self-evident  that  these  figures  are  necessarily- 
inexact,  but  even  with  this  crude  comparison,  the 
general  trend  of  the  results  of  the  experiment  can  be 
foreseen. 

Comparison  of  Practised  and  Unpractised  Halves 

in  Regard  to  Ability  in  Biological  and 

Non-Biological  Tests. 

Table  3  shows  the  comparative  results  of  the  prac- 
tised and  unpractised  halves  in  the  Biological  tests 
and  in  the  Non-Biological  tests. 

In  this  computation,  if  a  pupil  was  absent  from  a  test 
in  Series  I  or  Series  II,  the  corresponding  test  for  this 
pupil  was  omitted  from  Series  II  or  Series  I,  thus 
making  the  two  series  homogeneous. 

In  Class  (1),  one  girl  in  the  practised  half  and  one  in 
the  unpractised  half  were  absent  from  most  of  the 
tests  of  Series  II,  therefore  their  tests  in  Series  I  had 
to  be  omitted,  although,  of  course,  these  latter  had 
helped  to  form  the  basis  of  division  for  the  Practice 
Series.  The  ratings  of  the  unpractised  one  were  much 
superior  to  those  of  the  practised  one  in  Series  I. 

In  Class  1,  there  is  an  extra  boy  on  the  practised 
side;  in  Class  2,  an  extra  boy  on  the  unpractised  side; 
and  in  Class  3,  an  extra  girl  on  the  unpractised  side. 
Their  percentages  were  not  added  in  the  totals  of 
Series  I  and  II,  but  in  Series  III  of  Class  2,  the  ratings 
of  the  extra  unpractised  boy  were  included  in  place 
of  one  who  had  left  school. 

In  Series  II,  Test  1  was  omitted  by  Class  III  and, 
therefore,  had  to  be  omitted  in  Series  I  for  that  class. 

Test  10,  in  Series  III  was  omitted  by  all  three  classes. 


TABLE  3. 
Comparison  of  Biological  and  Non-Biological  Tests  in  Series  I  and  II. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Class 

B 

I 

II 

I 

II 

B 

I 

II 

I 

II 

I 

II 

III 

6 

5 
6 

1345.24 
1586.83 
1355.96 

1614.64 
1555.62 
1803.54 

1797.80 
1534.64 
2135.24 

2268.64 
1932.93 
2181.76 

6 
5 
6 

1193.43 
1474.27 
1333.33 

1064.62 
1697.33 
1496. 78 

2155.20 
1725.32 
2216.20 

2439.24 
1771.13 
2434. 75 

Totals 

17 

4288.03 

4973.80 

5467.68 

6383.33 

17 

4001.03 

4258.73 

6096. 72 

6645.12 

4288.03 

5467.68 

4001.03 

6096.72 

685.77 

915.65 

257.70 

548.40 

Class 

G 

G 

I 

II 

III 

9 
9 

7 

2555.00 
2560.21 
1434.81 

2979.25 
2772.88 
1600.23 

3150.12 
3122.80 
2147.64 

3329.20 
3575.01 
2447.03 

9 
9 

7 

2641.27 
2429.39 
1542.05 

2523.60 
2410.76 
1523.14 

2964. 28 
3269.68 
2291.28 

3245.75 
3579.16 
2541.05 

Totals 

25 

6550.02 

7352.36 

8420.56 

9351.24 

25 

6612.71 

6457.50 

8525.24 

9365.96 

6550.02 

8420.56 

6457.50 

8525.24 

802.34 

930.68 

*155.21 

840.72 

Decrease.     B  =  Boys;  G  =  Girls. 

TABLE  3  (Continued). 
Gains  or  Losses  in  Series  II  over  Series  I. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Gains 

Losses 

Gains 

Losses 

Gains 

Losses 

Gains 

Losses 

o 
M 

I 

II 

III 

269.40 
447.58 

31.21 

470.84 

398.29 

46.52 

223.06 
163.45 

128.81 

284.04 

45.81 

218.55 

n 

Totals 

716.98 

31.21 

915.65 

386.51 

128.81 

548.40 

3 
o 

I 

II 

III 

424.25 
212.67 
165.42 

179.08 
452.21 
299.39 

117.67 
18.63 
18.91 

281.47 
309.48 
249.77 

Totals 

802.34 

930.68 

155.21 

840.72 

88 


THE   DOCTKINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  3  (Continued). 
Numbers  of  the  Tests  Omitted  to  Secure  Better  Comparison.* 


Biological 

Non-Biological 

Class 

Practised 

Uapractlsed 

Practised 

Unpractised 

O 

I 

II 

III 

1 
10 

12 
8 
6 

8 

4,8 

2 

Totals 

2 

3 

4 

en 

o 

I 

II 

III 

9,  10,  9,  10 
1 

3 

1,3 
3,  1,3 

5 

7,4,8 

12,  6,  7 

6,7,2 

2 
12,  2,  7,  2 
6,  7,  8,  12 

Totals 

6 

6 

9 

9 

*  Tests  omitted  from  Series  1  if  absent  from  Series  2  or  vice  versa, 
in  order  to  make  the  comparison  of  practised  and  unpractised  of  Series 
1  and  2  homogeneous.  The  entire  set  of  tests  of  Murtagh  of  the 
practiced  half  and  IMcGreevy  of  the  unpracticed  of  Class  I  were  omitted 
because  of  protracted  absence. 

TABLE  3  (Continued). 

Comparison  of  Biological  and  Non-Biological  Tests  in  Series 

III 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 

Boys 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Boys 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

I 

II 

III 

4 
3 
5 

916.62 

747.34 
1519.88 

1616.16 
1068.70 
1979.66 

4 
3 

5 

793.45 

701.38 

1421.05 

1568.90 
10S0.34 
2031.94 

Totals 

12 

3183.84 

4664. 52 

12 

2915.88 

4681.18 

Class 

Girls 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Girls 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

I 

II 

III 

6 
6 

4 

1753.43 
1578.87 
1114.86 

2370.36 
2525.30 
1620.58 

6 
6 

4 

1571.81 
1593.97 
1083.27 

2439.20 
2550. 18 
1507.74 

Totals 

16 

4447.16 

6516.24 

16 

4249.05 

6497.12 

OKIGINAL  INVESTIGATION  89 

In  Series  III,  a  corresponding  number  of  pupils  on 
the  practised  and  unpractised  side  were  used  for  the 
comparison  of  totals.  The  integrity  of  the  practised 
and  unpractised  sides  was  preserved  as  far  as  was  pos- 
sible, considering  the  withdrawal  of  some  of  the  pupils. 

From  this  summary  provided  by  Table  3  it  will 
be  seen  that  there  is  a  decrease  in  the  totals  of  the  Bio- 
logical tests  of  Series  II  for  the  unpractised  boys  of 
Class  1  and  the  unpractised  girls  of  Classes  1,  2,  and 
3,  while  the  practised  boys  alone  of  Class  2  show  a 
slight  decrease. 

Both  practised  and  unpractised  groups  of  all  classes, 
both  boys  and  girls,  show  an  increase  in  Series  II  in  the 
Non-Biological  tests;  but  the  greater  increase  in  the 
case  of  both  boys  and  girls  is  on  the  side  of  the  prac- 
tised group. 

The  division  for  the  practice  group  was  based  on  the 
average  of  the  original  ratings  of  the  eleven  tests  of 
each  pupil  in  Series  I,  regardless  of  the  distinction  be- 
tween Biological  and  Non-Biological  material,  but  this 
summary  shows  that  in  each  case  except  the  girls  of 
Class  I,  the  unpractised  side  had  higher  totals  in  the 
Non-Biological  tests  of  Series  I  than  the  practised  half, 
and  in  every  case,  they  had  higher  totals  in  the  Non- 
Biological  tests  of  Series  II,  except  the  boys  of  Class  2 
and  the  girls  of  Class  1,  but,  as  has  been  said,  the 
greater  improvement  was  in  the  practised  group.  It 
would  seem  that  the  superior  pupils  in  the  Non-Bio- 
logical tests  were  in  the  unpractised  groups,  but  that 
something  had  caused  an  improvement  in  the  prac- 
tised groups,  although  they  could  not  attain  to  the 
superior  position  of  their  rivals. 

The  seventeen  boys  in  the  practised  group  in  the 
Non-Biological  tests  gained  in  Series  II  915.65;  thus 


90  THE    DOCTRINE    OF    FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

in  each  of  the  102  tests  there  was  an  average  improve- 
ment of  8.97,  while  the  corresponding  unpractised 
half  gained  only  548.40 — an  average  increase  for  each 
of  the  102  tests  of  5.37. 

The  twenty-five  girls  of  the  practised  half  in  the 
Non-Biological  tests  made  a  gain  in  Series  II  of  930.68, 
or  an  average  of  6.2  for  each  of  the  150  tests,  whereas 
the  unpractised  half  gained  840.72,  an  average  of  5.6 
for  each  of  the  150  tests.  Could  it  be  that  the  increase 
of  the  practised  group  was  due  to  a  transfer  from  the 
practice  series?  Or,  is  it  possible  that  the  unpractised 
group  may  have  been  nearer  their  physiological  limit 
and  therefore  could  not  increase  in  proportion  to  the 
practised? 

Turning  to  the  Biological  tests,  as  has  been  noted, 
only  one  of  the  practised  divisions,  that  of  the  boys  of 
Class  2,  lost  slightly,  while  four  of  the  unpractised 
lost.  It  is  difhcult  to  explain  this  loss.  If  the  Biologi- 
cal material  of  Series  II  was  more  difficult,  then  it 
would  be  hard  to  explain  the  great  gain  of  both  boys 
and  girls  in  the  practised  group. 

When  the  first  series  of  tests  was  performed,  most 
of  the  biological  material  was  comparatively  new  to  the 
subjects;  that  is,  they  did  not  know  any  of  the  technical 
or  scientific  terms  used  in  describing  stems,  flowers, 
leaves,  buds,  etc.  In  the  course  of  their  school  work 
between  the  tests  of  Series  I  and  II,  the  pupils  learned 
many  technical  terms.  I  felt  that  this  would  lower  their 
ratings  in  the  second  series,  because  they  might  be 
able  to  use  a  single  word  which  would  express  about 
the  same  meaning  as  a  sentence  had  been  required  for 
in  the  first  series.  To  my  surprise,  I  found  that 
this  was  not  always  the  case.  May  it  not  be  possible 
that  the  unpractised  did  exactly  this  very  thing,  while 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  91 

the  practised,  having  had  ten  extra  biological  speci- 
mens to  describe,  had  acquired  some  skill  in  enumer- 
ating more  at  length  the  characteristics  necessary  to 
distinguish  one  from  another? 

It  happened  that  when  the  Biological  were  separated 
from  the  Non-Biological  tests  of  Series  I,  the  advantage 
in  the  Biological  tests  in  each  class  of  boys  and  in 
Class  2  of  the  girls  was  with  the  practised  group.  In 
only  one  class,  the  boys  of  Class  2,  did  the  unpractised 
reach  a  higher  total  in  Series  II  than  the  practised 
group.  Therefore,  we  cannot  assume  that  the  physio- 
logical limit  had  anything  to  do  with  these  tests,  as 
far  as  the  boys  were  concerned,  since  those  that  were 
better  made  more  improvement,  while  with  the  Non- 
Biological  tests,  the  reverse  was  true.  With  the  girls, 
while  the  advantage  was  slightly  in  favor  of  the  un- 
practised group  in  Series  I,  the  totals  of  Series  II 
showed  a  decrease,  while  the  practised  side  showed  con- 
siderable increase. 

In  the  Biological  tests  the  seventeen  boys  in  Series  II 
made  an  improvement  over  Series  I  of  685.77;  thus 
for  the  85  tests,  there  was  an  increase  of  8.06  per  test; 
whereas  the  unpractised  boys  made  an  increase  of 
257.70,  or  for  the  85  tests,  of  3.03  per  test.  The 
twenty-five  girls  of  the  practised  division,  in  Series  II 
made  a  gain  of  802.34  over  Series  I,  or  for  the  125 
tests,  of  6.41  per  test,  while  the  unpractised  side  lost 
155.21,  or  for  the  125  tests,  1.24  per  test.  Clearly  in 
Series  II,  the  advantage  seems  to  be  with  the  practised 
side. 

In  computing  the  average  gain  or  loss  per  test,  no 
allowance  was  made  for  the  omission  of  Test  1  from 
Series  II  by  Class  3  nor  for  absences  from  the  tests, 
therefore  the  average  per  test  would  be  slightly  greater. 


92  THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

but  since  practically  the  same  number  of  tests  was 
omitted  by  both  sides,  as  can  be  seen  from  the  table 
of  "Tests  Omitted,"  no  material  difference  would  be 
made  in  the  relationship  of  the  practised  and  unprac- 
tised sides. 

The  summary  of  Series  III  shows  the  comparison 
of  the  totals  of  twelve  boys  and  sixteen  girls  in  the 
practised  and  unpractised  groups  in  both  the  Biological 
and  Non-Biological  tests. 

Here  there  is  seen  in  general  the  same  relationship 
as  was  shown  in  the  comparison  of  Series  I  and  II. 

In  Series  III,  the  twelve  boys  of  the  practised  half 
have  a  higher  rating  than  the  unpractised  in  the  Bio- 
logical tests,  as  they  did  in  both  Series  I  and  II;  while 
in  the  Non-Biological  tests,  the  advantage  is  with  the 
unpractised  as  it  was  in  both  Series  I  and  II. 

The  sixteen  girls  show  an  advantage  in  the  practised 
side  in  both  Biological  and  Non-Biological  tests,  which 
was  just  the  opposite  in  Series  I,  while  in  Series  II, 
the  Biological  ratings  of  the  practiced  were  much 
higher  and  the  Non-Biological  were  slightly  lower. 
More  accurate  comparison  will  be  made  later,  but  all 
these  data  seem  to  show  a  general  advantage  in  favor 
of  the  practised  side. 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


93 


TABLE  4. 

Comparison  of  Series  I  and  II. 

Net  Gains  and  Losses  When  Made  Homogenous  for  Corresponding 

Pairs  of  Pupils. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 

Boys 

Gains 

Losses 

Gains 

Losses 

I 

II 

III 

12 
10 

12 

372 
171 
201 

149 
156 
219 

Total 

34 

744 

524 

Class 

Girls 

I 

II 

III 

18 
18 
14 

387 
350 
160 

56 

212 

28 

Total 

50 

897 

296 

TABLE  4  (Continued). 
Comparison  of  Pupils  in  Series  I  and  II  and  III. 
Net  Gains  and  Losses  Made  Homogeneoxis  for  Corresponding  Pupils  in 
All  3  Series. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 

Boys 

I  and  II 

I  and  III 

I  and  II 

I  and  III 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

I 

II 

III 

8 

6 

10 

250 

112 

37 

159 
19 

53 

2 
124 
246 

21 

4 

36 

Totals 

24 

399 

231 

372 

61 

Class 

Girls 

134 
191 

122 

14 
30 
62 

52 
158 

57 

56 

I 

II 
III 

10 
12 

8 

28 
53 

Totals 

30 

447 

106 

267 

56 

81 

TABLE  4  (Continued). 

Summary  of  Pupils  Present  at  All  Tests. 

Net  Scores. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

♦Class 

B 

I 

II 

I 

II 

III 

I 

II 

I 

II 

III 

I 

II 

III 

8 
8 
8 

1121 
1335 
1213 

1378 
1463 
1318 

828 
1148 

1019 
1222 

946 
1167 

1230 
1329 
1266 

1301 
1516 
1456 

916 
1179 

899 
1366 

943 
1224 

Totals 

24 

3669 

4159 

1976 

2241 

2113 

3825 

4273 

2095 

2265 

2167 

G 

1710 
1703 
1527 

3669 

1976 

1976 

3825 

2095 

2095 

Class 

490 
Gain 

1899 
1914 
1644 

1353 

1321 

853 

265 
Gain 

1455 

1479 

961 

137 
Gain 

1329 

1342 

911 

1708 

1728 
1635 

448 
Gain 

1794 
1878 
1742 

1346 

1318 

937 

170 
Gain 

1424 
1445 
1002 

72 
Gain 

I 

II 

III 

10 
10 
10 

1386 

1369 

899 

Totals 

30 

4940 

5457 

3527 

3895 

3582 

5071 

5414 

3601 

3871 

3654 

4940 

3527 

3527 

5071 

3601 

3601 

517 
Gain 

368 
Gain 

55 
Gain 

343 
Gain 

270 
Gain 

53 
Gain 

*  Series  III.     14  boys,  22  girls. 

TABLE  4  (Continued). 

CoMPAnisoN  OF  All  Pupils  Who  Were  Present  at  All  Tests  of 

Series  i  and  II. 

N'et  Gains  and  Losses. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 

Boys 

Gains 

Losses 

Gains 

Losses 

I 

II 

III 

8 
8 
8 

257 
128 
105 

71 
187 
190 

Totals 

24 

490 

448 

I 

II 

III 

10 
10 
10 

189 
211 
117 

86 
150 
107 

Totals 

30 

517 

343 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


95 


TABLE  4  (Continued). 
Comparison  of  Pupils  Who  Were  Present  at  All  Tests  of  Series 

I,  II  AND  III. 

Net  Gains  and  Losses. 


Practised 

Unpractised 

I  and  II 

I  and  III 

I  and  II 

I  and  III 

Class 

Boys 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

Gain 

Loss 

I 

II 

III 

6 
0 

8 

191 

74 

118 
19 

187 

17 

27 
45 

Totals 

14 

265 

137 

187 

17 

72 

Class 

Girls 

102 
158 
108 

21 

58 

24 

78 

127 

65 

40 
51 

I 

II 

III 

8 
8 
6 

38 

Totals 

22 

368 

79 

24 

270 

91 

38 

In  Table  IV,  a  comparison  is  made  of  the  original 
ratings  b  ased  on  Table  I  of  the  practised  and  unprac- 
tised groups. 

Test  1  of  Series  II  was  omitted  by  Class  3,  and  Test 
10  of  Series  III  was  omitted  by  all  three  classes.  If  a 
pupil  was  absent  from  a  test,  that  test  w^as  omitted 
from  his  ratings  in  each  of  the  other  series,  and  also 
from  the  ratings  of  all  of  the  series  of  his  partner.  Thus 
pairs  of  pupils,  chosen  when  division  for  the  practice 
groups  was  made,  are  compared  in  exactly  the  same 
tests  in  each  of  the  three  series. 

The  Table  giving  the  comparison  of  Series  I  and  II 
shows  more  improvement   of  the   practised  group  in 


9G  THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

every  class  except  the  boys  of  Class  3.  In  Series  I, 
in  every  case,  the  unpractised  group  had  higher  ratings 
than  the  corresponding  practised  group.  In  Series 
II,  this  is  true  only  in  the  case  of  the  unpractised  boys 
and  girls  of  Class  3.  But  the  total  improvement  is 
greater  for  the  practised  group.  The  seventeen  boys 
of  the  practised  group  made  a  gain  of  744  in  Series  II 
over  Series  I.  With  fourteen  of  the  187  tests  omitted, 
the  practised  boys  made  an  average  gain  of  4.3  per 
test  in  their  ratings  while  the  corresponding  unprac- 
tised boys  gained  524  in  Series  II  with  an  average 
gain  per  test  of  3.02. 

The  twenty-five  girls  of  the  practised  group  made 
a  gain  of  897  in  Series  II.  Omitting  34  of  the  275 
tests,  the  practised  girls  made  an  average  gain  of  3.72 
per  test,  while  the  unpractised  girls  gained  296  in 
Series  II,  an  average  of  1.22  per  test. 

A  comparison  of  the  24  boys  and  30  girls  in  Series  I, 
II  and  III,  shows  the  greater  improvement  to  be  in 
the  practised  group.  This  is  true  for  both  Series  II 
and  Series  III.  The  only  loss  is  in  Series  III  by  the 
unpractised  groups  of  girls  in  Classes  1  and  3. 

A  summary  of  the  24  boys  and  30  girls  present  in  all 
the  tests,  again  shows  the  advantage  to  rest  with  the 
practised  group.  Twelve  boys  performing  eleven  tests 
each,  with  a  total  of  132  tests,  gained  490  or  3.71  per 
test,  while  fifteen  girls  performing  a  total  of  165  tests, 
gained  517  or  3.13  per  test.  The  twelve  boys  of  the 
un})ractised  group  gained  448,  with  an  average  of 
3.39  per  test  while  the  fifteen  girls  gained  343,  average 
2.08  per  test.  The  seven  boys  of  the  practised  group 
in  Series  III  compared  with  Series  I  showed  greater 
improvement  than  the  unpractised,  and  the  eleven 
girls  showed  a  very  little  more  improvement  than  their 
corresponding  group. 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION 


97 


A  comparison  of  pupils  who  wefe  present  at  all  tests 
of  Series  I,  II  and  III,  again  shows  for  the  fourteen 
boys  and  twenty-two  girls,  the  former  to  manifest  great- 
er improvement  for  the  practised  group  in  both  series, 
while  the  girls  show  a  greater  improvement  in  Series 
II  but  very  little  difference  in  Series  III. 


TABLE  5. 
Class  I,  Series  I. 
Division  op  Classes  for  Practice  Groups. 


No.  of 

No.  of 

Average 

Missing 

Average 

Missing 

Boys 

Tests 

Boys 

Tests 

Garratt 

30.45 

Waller 

33.45 

Rhodius 

'?8.27 

Hugger 

30.00 

Johnston 

25.70 

1 

Weber 

27.70 

Hart 

22.63 

Wild 

22.72 

Walsh 

22.70 

Wet]  en 

24.00 

1 

Lefkowitz 

18.60 

Riconda 

Total 

19.20 

1 

Total 

148.35 

157.07 

Jaeger 

27.72 

Girls 

Girls 

*Engel8 

32.09 

Kolsch 

28.18 

Geffert 

35.36 

McGreevy 

36.18 

Schmidt 

34.36 

Krumholz 

34.81 

Hamilton 

31.90 

Ilch 

34.00 

Millang 

30.22 

2 

Savage 

34.66 

Manwaring 

29.09 

Kelly,  K. 

29.63 

Haag 

24.54 

Howard 

26.90 

Murtagh 

23.45 

Perry 

24.18 

♦Kelly 

24.66 

2 

Conradi 

19.44 

Clute 

33.30 

t 

Cohen 
Total 

43.83 

t 

Total 

298.97 

311.81 

*  Indicates  names  should  have  been  transferred,  because  of  higher 
averages. 

t  Six  experhnents  alike. 


TABLE  5  (Continued). 

Class  II,  Series  I. 

Division  of  Classes  fou  Practice  Group. 


No.  of 

No.  of 

Average 

Missing 

Average 

Missing 

Boys 

Tests 

Boys 

Tests 

Andrews 

29.09 

Vandevel 

29.81 

Friedland 

27.18 

Smyth 

27.54 

Hartell 

24.80 

1 

Mullady 

24.90 

1 

Franklin 

33.90 

Demarest 

34.90 

Dinneen 

31.18 

Schuler 
Total 

32.36 

Total 

146.15 

149.51 

Bernhardt 

28.54 

Girls 

Girls 

Rehm 

35.70 

1 

Blanc 

40.4 

Inglis 

34.45 

Wunder 

34.63 

Luft 

33.18 

Geissen 

33.45 

Grodzic 

32.27 

Dalessan 

32.45 

♦Rudolf 

32.90 

Hynes 

30.60 

Schnering 

28.09 

Meyer 

29.63 

Brady 

26.81 

Blumen 

26.90 

Schreiner 

25.00 

Dehn 

27.09 

Lutz 

28.50 

t 

Gannon 

Total 

34.33 

Total 

276.90 

289.48 

Keane 

22.36 

t  Six  experiments  alike. 


TABLE  5  (Continued). 

Class  III,  Series  1. 

Division  of  Classes  for  Practice  Groups. 


No.  of 

No.  of 

Average 

Missing 

Average 

Missing 

Boys 

Tests 

Boys 

Tests 

Duff 

37.54 

Ruppol 

39.63 

Archimal 

32.45 

Bonomo 

35.63 

Timman 

27.81 

AUiano 

29.09 

Friedman 

29.63 

BaldelU 

31.63 

Cohen 

28.27 

Cullum 

29.36 

Steincr 

22.36 

Miethke 

23.81 

Total 

178.06 

189.15 

Girls 

Girls 

Hacker 

31.33 

HiU 

34.44 

2 

Busby 

32.63 

Woodbury 

34.54 

Brown 

31.36 

Sharra 

31.81 

Duro 

30.72 

Johnson 

30.72 

Weed 

24.72 

Gallo 

30.90 

Schulze 

29.00 

Netz 

29.27 

George 

30.50 

Duflfy 
Total 

33.25 

Total 

210.26 

224.93 

Morton 

30.50 

1 

ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION 


99 


TABLE  5  (Continued). 

StJMMARY  OF 

Practice  Groups. 

Practised 

Unpractised 

Class 
I 
II 
III 

Boys 
12 
10 
12 

34 

Total  Average 
148.35 
146.15 
178.06 

Total  Average 
157.07 
149.51 
189.15 

Total 

472.56 

495.73 
472.56 

23.17 

Class 
I 

II 
III 

Girls 
20 
18 
14 

52 

298.97 
276.90 
210.26 

311.81 
289.48 
224.93 

Total 

786.13 

826.22 
786.13 

40.09 

From  the  results  of  the  tests  of  Series  I,  the  three 
classes  were  divided  into  two  groups,  one  for  the  extra 
practice  and  the  other  for  comparison.  In  each  class, 
boys  and  girls  considered  separately,  the  two  pupils 
having  their  averages  from  the  original  ratings  of 
Series  I,  Table  I,  nearest  alike,  were  chosen  for  com- 
parison and  the  one  with  the  higher  rating  was  placed 
in  the  unpractised  group.  In  case  of  absence  from 
one  or  more  tests,  the  same  test  was  omitted  from  the 
nearest  pupil's  average.  In  three  cases,  through 
faulty  manipulation  or  computation,  pupils  having 
higher  ratings  were  placed  with  the  practised  group. 
It  is  possible  now,  to  see  a  few  changes  that  might 
have  made  an  improvement.  But  in  every  case,  in 
every  class,  the  higher  total  for  both  boys  and  girls 
was  in  the  unpractised  group. 

The  summary  shows  that  in  Series  I,  the  unprac- 
tised group  of  boys  was  ahead  in  their  averages  by 
23.17  while  the  unpractised  girls  outran  the  practised 
by  40.09. 


100 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  6. 

Class  Marks  in  Botany,  February  to  June,  1912;  Zoology,  Sep- 
tember TO  February,  1913. 


Practised 


Class  I. 


Boys 

Garratt 

Rhodius 

Johnston 

Hart 

Walsh 

Lefkowitz 

Total 

Jaegers 

Girls 


February  to  June,  1912. 

12      3      4    Total  Boys 

83     70     80     80     313  Waller 

70     80     80     80     310  Hunger 

60     55     50     65     230  Weber 

50    45     55     40     190  Wild 

62     55     70     65     252  Wet  j  en 

55     60    62     65    242  Riconda 

380  365  397  395  1537  Total 


Unpractised 


12  8  4    Total 

55  55  40  60  210 

60  80  70  75  285 

63  60  70  73  266 

60  57  50  60  227 

60  50  65  67  242 

65  50  50  40  205 

363  352  345  375  1435 


70  75  75  75  295 


Girls 


Engles 

75 

80 

82 

83 

320 

Kolsch 

80 

83 

80 

85 

328 

GefTert 

70 

75 

77 

75 

297 

McGreevy 

75 

60 

65 

60 

260 

Schmidt 

80 

82 

85 

85 

332 

Krumholz 

78 

80 

85 

85 

328 

Hamilton 

55 

60 

65 

65 

245 

Ilch 

72 

70 

70 

73 

285 

Millang 

77 

82 

85 

85 

329 

Savage 

70 

55 

60 

60 

245 

Manwaring 

;  78 

75 

75 

80 

308 

Kelly,  K. 

74 

72 

70 

72 

288 

Ilaag 

70 

60 

65 

70 

265 

Howard 

75 

80 

75 

80 

310 

Murtagh 

70 

68 

60 

65 

263 

Perry 

73 

50 

60 

65 

248 

KeUy 

55 

55 

60 

47 

217 

Conradi 

60 

50 

60 

60 

230 

Clute 

60 

55 

60 

62 

237 

Cohen 

70 

60 

50 

45 

225 

Total 

690  692  714  717  2813 

Total 

727 

660  675  685  2747 

1 — March. 

2— April 

30. 

3— May 

31. 

4 — June 

28. 

ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


101 


Boys 
Andrews 
Friedland 
Kartell 
Franklin 
Dinneen 

Total 


TABLE  6  (Continued). 

Class  II. 
Practised 

February  to  June,  1912. 
12      3      4    Total        Boys 
55     60    70     65    250    Vandevel 
62     65     60     65     252     Smyth 
70     65     62     65     262     Mullady 
78     85     87     87     337     Demarest 
70    60    60    63     253     Schuler 


Unpractised 

12  3  4  Total 

60    78  80  75  293 

70    72  60  65  267 

65     60  70  68  263 

78     75  70  75  298 

55     78  75  75  283 


335  335  339  345  1354    Total  328  363  355  358  1404 

Bernhardt    72    60     60     65     257 


Girls 

Girls 

Rehm 

73 

75 

70 

80 

298 

Blanc 

Ina;lis 

82 

88 

90 

87 

347 

Wunder 

Liift 

74 

92 

88 

87 

341 

Geissen 

Grodzic 

73 

80 

80 

82 

315 

Dalessan 

Rudolf 

79 

82 

83 

82 

326 

Hynes 

Schnering 

80 

80 

82 

83 

325 

Meyer 

Brady 

70 

60 

65 

65 

260 

Blmnen 

Schreiner 

72 

76 

75 

75 

298 

Dehn 

Lutz 

78 

85 

85 

83 

331 

Gannon 

75  90  90  87  342 

84  92  93  90  359 

72  72  80  80  304 

70  60  50  60  240 

72  55  50  50  227 

70  65  60  65  260 

70  80  80  80  310 

65  50  45  40  200 

70  55  50  60  235 

Total  681  718  718  724  2841     Total  648  619  598  612  2477 

Keane  70    55    50    45    220 

TABLE  6  (Continued). 

Class  III. 
Practised 

February  to  June,  1912. 

12      3      4    Total        Boys 

75    80    70    80     305    Ruppel 

80     92     85     86     343     Bonomo 

65     70     55     60     250     Alliano 

65     64     50     60     239     Baldelli 

70    80    70    70    290     CuUum 

68    50    65    65    248     Miethke 


Boys 
DufF 

Archimal 
Timman 
Friedman 
Cohen 
Steiner 

Total 

Girls 
Hacker 
Busby 
Brown 
Duro 
Weed 
Schulze 
George 

Total 
Morton 


1 

63 

70 

50 

75 

60 

80 


Unpractised 

2  3  4    Total 

72  83  80  298 

80  83  80  313 

70  50  60  230 

80  80  80  315 

80  75  75  290 

70  65  70  285 


423  436  395  421  1675 


72  78  79  75  304 

80  92  85  88  345 

70  80  75  70  295 

80  70  73  75  298 

76  70  73  75  294 

75  55  50  45  225 

55  50  55  40  200 


Total 

Girls 

HiU  63  60 

Woodbury  80  75 

Sbarra  78  60 

Johnson  75  85 

Gallo  70  74 

Netz  79  85 

Duffy  SO  82 


398  452  436  445  1731 


65  60  248 

85  85  325 
70  73  281 

86  85  331 
78  75  297 

87  85  336 
70  80  312 


508  495  490  468  1961     Total 
60     60     60     60    240 


525  521  541  543  2130 


102 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  6  (Continued). 


Class  I. 

Practised 

Unpractised 

September  to 

February,  1913. 

State 

State 

Boys 

1 

2 

3    ' 

Total  Exam 

Boys 

1 

2 

S 

Total  Exam. 

Garratt 

75 

70 

70 

215 

70 

WaUer 

50 

56 

70 

176 

70 

Rhodius 

70 

70 

87 

227 

87 

Hugger 

75 

63 

80 

218 

80 

*Johnston 

65 

70 

71 

206 

♦71 

Weber 

Hart 

Wild 

60 

55 

62 

177 

62 

Walsh 

65 

60 

60 

185 

Wet  j  en 

70 

63 

70 

203 

Lefkowitz 

70 

61 

62 

193 

62 

Riconda 

Total 

280  261 

279 

820  219 

Total 

255  237  282 

774  212 

Girls 

Girls 

Engles 

80 

75 

80 

235 

79 

Kolsch 

80 

65 

73 

218 

73 

♦Geffert 

70 

60 

73 

203 

73 

McGreevy 

Schmidt 

83 

75 

70 

228 

63 

Krumholz 

80 

82 

90 

252 

90 

Hamilton 

70 

50 

62 

182 

Ilch 

70 

50 

65 

185 

65 

Millang 

85 

83 

81 

249 

81 

Savage 

68 

45 

50 

163 

Manwaring  80 

75 

75 

230 

Kelly,  K. 

75 

70 

68 

213 

68 

Haag 

*Ho\vard 

70 

65 

74 

209 

74 

Murtagh 

65 

65 

73 

203 

73 

Perry 

65 

45 

50 

160 

Kelly 

Conradi 

Clute 

Cohen 

Total 

463 

423 

441 

1327 

369 

Total 

438  357  396 

1191 

370 

*  Omit. 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION 


103 


TABLE  6  (Continued). 

Class  II. 

Practised 

Unpractised 

September  to  February,  1913. 

State 

State 

Boys 

1 

2 

3  '. 

Total  Exam. 

Boys 

1 

2 

3  Total  Exam. 

Andrews 

70 

55 

55 

180 

55 

Vandevel 

Friedland 

70 

53 

63 

186 

63 

Smyth 

Kartell 

65 

66 

68 

199 

68 

Mullady 

70 

70 

60 

200 

60 

Franklin 

Demarest 

Dinneen 

Schuler 

75 

62 

75 

212 

75 

Bernhardt 

70 

65 

65 

200 

65 

Total 

205 

174 

186 

565 

186 

Total 

215 

197 

200 

612 

200 

Girls 

Girls 

Rehm 

83 

85 

87 

255 

87 

Blanc 

82 

85 

90 

257 

90 

Inglis 

85 

85 

80 

250 

78 

Wunder 

90 

85 

97 

272 

97 

Luft 

80 

77 

82 

239 

82 

Geissen 

70 

80 

82 

232 

82 

Grodzic 

80 

75 

75 

230 

*75 

Dalessan 

70 

50 

65 

185 

*Rudolf 

83 

80 

75 

238 

*66 

Hynes 

Schnering 

*Meyer 

60 

50 

60 

170 

Brady 

70 

70 

70 

210 

90 

Blumen 

73 

68 

88 

229 

88 

*Schreiner 

80 

80 

75 

235 

*72 

Dehn 

Lutz 

80 

65 

83 

228 

*83 

Gannon 

65 

50 

40 

155 

Total    478  457  477  1412  337   Total    450  418  462  1330  357 


Boys 
Duff 

Archimal 
Timman 
Friedman 
Cohen 
Steiner 

Total 

Girls 
Hacker 
Busby 
Brown 
Duro 
Weed 
Schulze 
George 

Total 
Morton 


TABLE  6  (Continued). 

Class  III. 
Practised 

September  to  February,  1913. 
State 
12      3  Total  Exam 
75    75    78    228    78 
85     90    95    270    95 


65  80  75  220  70 
75  80  80  235  80 
72     65     62     199 

372  390  390  1152  323 


80  75  77  232  77 

82  85  80  247  77 

80  62  65  207 

75  75  72  222  71 


317  297  294    908  225 
65     50    50     165 


Boys 
Ruppel 
Bonomo 
Alliano 
BaldeUi 
CuUum 
Miethke 


Unpractised 

State 
12       3  Total  Exam. 
80    83     80    243     78 
75     80     75    230    70 


85  90  95  270  95 
75  80  79  234  78 
75     80    81     236  *81 

390  413  410  1213  321 


Total 

Girls 
HiU  70    65     65 

Woodbury    90    89    96 
*Sbarra         78     50     50 


96 


Johnson 
Gallo 

*Netz 
*Duffy 

Total 


85  85  96 

70  63  68 

82  85  78 

80  63  77 


200 
275 
178 

266  96 
201  68 
245  *73 
220  *77 


315  302  325  942  260 


104 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  6  (Continued). 

Summary  op  Term's  Ratings.     Net  Scores. 

February  to  June,  1912. 

Practised        Unpractised 


Class 

Boys 

I 

6 

1537 

1435 

II 

5 

1354 

1404 

III 

6 

1675 

1731 

Total 

17 

4566 

4570 

Class 

Girls 

I 

10 

2S13 

2747 

II 

9 

2841 

2477 

III 

7 

1961 

2130 

Total 


Total 


26 


7615 


September  to  February,  1913. 


16 


3647 


State  Examinations. 


7354 


Class 

Boys 

I 

4 

820 

774 

II 

3 

565 

612 

III 

5 

1152 

1213 

Total 

12 

2537 

2599 

Class 

Girls 

I 

6 

1327 

1191 

II 

6 

1412 

1330 

III 

4 

908 

942 

3403 


Class 

Boys 

I 

3 

219 

212 

II 

3 

186 

200 

III 

4 

323 

321 

Total 

10 

728 

733 

Class 

GirU 

I 

5 

369 

370 

II 

4 

337 

357 

III 

3 

225 

260 

Total 


12 


931 


987 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  105 

Table  VI  records  the  class  ratings  in  biology  of  the 
test  pupils  during  the  one  year  of  the  test. 

Too  much  reliability  must  not  be  placed  upon  regard- 
ing these  marks  as  actually  showing  the  degree  of 
intelligence  or  ability  of  the  pupil  in  general  or  in 
biology  in  particular.  Various  other  factors  besides 
general  ability  and  intelligence  are  considered  in  giving 
the  ratings,  some  of  which  are  absence,  attention, 
preparation  of  home-work,  ability  to  recite  the  lesson, 
neatness,  accuracy,  preparation  of  a  note-book,  abil- 
ity to  pass  an  examination,  effort,  etc. 

The  March  rating  had  been  given  before  the  begin- 
ning of  the  tests  and  the  April  rating  was  given  during 
the  tests.  From  the  computation  of  the  totals  of  the 
March  ratings,  it  will  be  seen  that  upon  the  basis  of 
school  marks,  the  unpractised  boys  are  slightly  in- 
ferior to  the  practised,  while  the  unpractised  girls  are 
superior  to  the  practised  girls.  The  April  rating  shows 
exactly  the  reverse  to  be  true.  The  May  mark  shows  a 
similar  condition  to  that  obtaining  in  April.  In  the 
June  rating,  the  comparative  positions  are  still  un- 
changed, the  unpractised  boys  lead  and  the  practised 
girls. 

The  summary  of  the  totals  of  the  term's  ratings 
shows  the  unpractised  boys  to  be  superior  by  four 
credits  while  the  practised  girls  are  superior  by  261 
credits.  With  seventeen  boys,  the  advantage  of  the 
unpractised  group  is  only  .23  per  pupil,  while  the 
twenty-six  practised  girls  are  superior  to  the  un- 
practised to  the  extent  of  10.03  per  pupil. 

Thus,  it  might  be  said  that  the  boys'  practice  groups 
were  very  evenly  divided  in  ability  when  based  on 
class  ratings. 


106  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

Anti-disciplinarians  might  also  claim  that  the  super- 
iority of  the  girls  of  the  practised  group  might  have 
some  influence  on  their  greater  improvement,  which 
otherwise  might  be  ascribed  to  the  transfer  of  practice. 

The  totals  of  the  ratings  of  the  second  term's  work 
show  the  same  comparison.  The  unpractised  boys 
excel  their  opponents  by  62  credits,  while  the  practised 
girls  outrun  the  unpractised  by  184  credits.  If  this 
means  anything,  it  points  to  the  better  boys  being  in 
the  unpractised  group  while  the  reverse  is  true  with 
the  girls. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  first  term's  work,  one  prac- 
tised and  one  unpractised  boy,  and  three  practised 
and  three  unpractised  girls  failed  to  be  promoted  as 
indicated  by  the  percentages  below  60  in  the  fourth 
rating.  Thus,  as  regards  deficient  pupils  according 
to  school  ratings,  both  practised  and  unpractised  sides 
were  equal. 

Of  those  who  were  promoted  and  remained  in  school 
during  the  second  term,  one  practised  boy,  one  prac- 
tised gii-1,  and  four  unpractised  girls  failed  to  be  pro- 
moted, thus  indicating,  on  the  basis  of  school  ratings, 
that  four  of  the  poorest  girls  were  on  the  unpractised 
side. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  term,  94.4%  of  the  36  boys 
in  the  tests  passed  the  work  and  were  promoted  while 
88.8%  of  the  54  girls  also  advanced  a  grade. 

At  the  close  of  the  second  term,  96%  of  the  25  boys 
studying  biology  and  who  had  performed  the  three 
series  of  tests,  successfully  completed  the  work,  and 
87.8%  of  the  41  girls  studying  biology  and  who  had 
also  been  in  all  three  series  of  tests,  passed  on  to  a 
higher  grade. 


ORIGINAL  INVESTIGATION  107 

At  the  end  of  a  year's  work  in  biology,  24  boys  of  the 
original  36  who  began  the  tests,  were  still  in  school  and 
promoted  to  an  advanced  grade  an  average  of  66.6%. 
Likewise,  36  girls  of  the  original  54  were  promoted,  an 
average  of  66.6%. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  first  year's  work  in  biology, 
a  state  examination  is  given  by  the  Regents'  Depart- 
ment of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Of  the  52  of  the  test  pupils  of  all  series  who  took  this 
examination,  98.07%  passed. 

From  a  consideration  of  these  percentages  and  re- 
membering the  statistical  data  in  regard  to  the  great 
mortahty  in  the  first  year  of  the  high  school,  it  is 
evident  that  if  these  series  of  tests  cannot  be  claimed 
to  have  profited  these  pupils  it  can  at  least  be  said 
that  they  were  not  detrimental.  Personally,  recalling 
the  experiments  of  Dallenberg,  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve them  in  some  degree  accountable  for  the  very 
satisfactory  showing  in  the  state  examination. 

Comparing  the  state  examination  ratings  of  the 
10  pairs  of  boys  and  12  pairs  of  girls,  we  find  that  the 
unpractised  boys  exceed  the  practised  by  an  average 
of  .5%  per  pupil  while  the  unpractised  girls  exceed  the 
practised  by  an  average  of  4.6%  per  pupil.  Thus 
again,  the  unpractised  boys  show  superior  ability  ac- 
cording to  examination  ratings;  as  do  also  the  unprac- 
tised girls,  contrary  to  former  comparisons.  As  only 
the  better  pupils  entered  the  state  examination  and 
only  44  of  the  original  86  test  pupils  are  compared, 
it  would  be  unwise  to  emphasize  this  comparison  of  the 
practised  and  unpractised  groups. 


108 


THE   DOCTKINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


TABLE  7. 
Computed  from  Tables  I  and  V. 


Number  of  tests 

Number  of  tests 

Tests 

Number 
of  pupils 
in  tests 

improred  in 

decreased  in 

omitted 

Biol. 

Non-Biol. 

Same 

Same 

Ser.    Ser.  Ser. 

Ser. 

Ser. 

Ser. 

Ser.    Ser. 

Ser. 

Ser. 

Ser.  Ser. 

II       I  &   III 

I  & 

II 

Ill 

II       III 

II 

Ill 

II     III 

II 

III 

Practised 

Boys' 

Claas 

1      49    3        26 

3 

6 

7 

7        4 

1 

6      4 

2      32     7         13 

2 

9 

7 

6        7 

1 

1 

5       2 

*3      43     5        32 

4 

1 

2 

21       12 

7 

7      6 

Totals  124  15      171 

9 

16 

16 

34      23 

9 

1 

18     12 

Girls' 

1       57     9        39 

5 

6 

8 

20       17 

18 

1 

10      7 

2      55  11        47 

5 

13 

9 

16       15 

4 

4 

9      8 

t3      42    9        29 

3 

7 

4 

8       11 

11 

3 

7      5 

Totals  154  29      115 

13 

26 

21 

44      43 

33 

8 

26    20 

Unpractised 
Boys' 
Class 

1      37    8        17 

3 

12 

9 

7       10 

2 

1 

6      4 

2      35     2         10 

1 

4 

2 

12        4 

2 

3 

5      2 

*3      39    8        37 

6 

7 

5 

15       12 

8 

0 

7       6 

Totals  111  18        64 

10 

23 

16 

34      26 

12 

4 

18     12 

Girls' 

1      50    6        41 

4 

17 

10 

23       15 

14 

10      7 

2      52     8        42 

3 

15 

13 

18       19 

6 

3 

9      8 

3      36     7        24 

4 

10 

6 

12       13 

12 

3 

7      5 

Totals  138  21       107 

n 

42 

29 

53      47 

32 

6 

26     20 

*  Bernhardt  and  Jaegers  counted  with  Class  3. 
t  Morton  counted  in  Ser.  IlL 


ORIGINAL   INVESTIGATION  109 

Table  7  was  computed  from  Table  1,  comparing  the 
practised  18  boys  and  26  girls  with  a  similar  number 
of  unpractised  in  Series  1  and  11  and  the  practised 
12  boys  and  20  ghls  with  a  similar  number  of  unprac- 
tised in  Series  I  and  III. 

In  every  class  for  both  boys  and  girls,  the  totals  of 
the  number  of  tests  which  remained  the  same  and  in 
which  improvement  was  made  in  Series  11  is  greater 
for  the  practised  pupils.  In  Series  111,  the  totals  of 
the  tests  which  remained  the  same  as  in  Series  I  and  in 
which  an  improvement  was  made  is  greater  for  the 
unpractised  in  two  of  the  six  cases,  the  boys  of  class  3 
and  the  girls  of  class  1. 

In  Series  II,  the  unpractised  boys  decreased  in  7 
more  biological  tests  than  the  practised  and  in  the 
same  number  of  non-biological;  whereas  the  unprac- 
tised girls  decreased  in  16  more  biological  and  9  more 
non-biological  than  the  practised  girls. 

In  Series  III,  both  practised  and  unpractised  boys 
decreased  in  the  same  number  of  biological  tests  while 
the  unpractised  boys  decreased  in  3  more  non-bio- 
logical tests.  The  unpractised  girls  decreased  in  8 
more  biological  and  4  more  non-biological  than  their 
practised  opponents. 

Three  more  tests  were  omitted  by  the  unpractised 
boys  in  both  Series  II  and  III,  while  the  unpractised 
girls  omitted  one  less  in  the  biological  and  2  less  in  the 
non-biological  than  their  corresponding  practised  neigh- 
bors. 

The  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  this  table  are 
necessarily  similar  to  those  presented  heretofore. 
Throughout  the  advantage  is  with  the  practised  group. 


110  THE   DOCTRINE    OF    FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 


SUMMARY  OF  ALL  TABLES  OF  COMPARISON  OF  SERIES  I  AND  II 


Practised 


Unpractised 


BOYS 


Table  j  Ser.  II 

Av. 

Biol. 

Av. 

Non  B 

Av. 

Ser.  11 

Av. 

Biol. 

Av. 

Non  B  Av. 

II 

1342.80 

7.18 

399.88 

2.13 

III 

685.77 

8.06 

915.65 

8.97 

257.70 

3.03 

548.40 

5.37 

IV 

744 

4.3 

524 

3.02 

V 

Sor.  I 
23.17 

VI 

4 

.23 

VII 

Increase 
124 

Deer. 
16 

Deer. 
34 

111 

Deer. 

23 

Deer. 
34 

GIRLS 


II 
III 

1436.98 

5.22 

802.34  6.41 

930.68 

6.2 

86.45 

.31 

Deer. 
155.21 

Deer. 
1.24 

840.72 

5.6 

IV 

897 

3.72 

296 

1.22 

V 

Ser.  I 
40.09 

VI 

261 

10.03 

VII 

Increase 
154 

Deer. 
26 

Deer. 

44 

138 

Deer. 
42 

Deer. 

53 

CONCLUSIONS. 

Combining  the  results  and  conclusions  noted  in  the 
seven  tables  with  their  several  sub-divisions,  some  con- 
clusion may  be  reached  in  regard  to  the  object  of  our 
search — the  transfer  of  special  practice  in  biological 
material  to  non-biological. 

In  the  summary  of  all  the  tables,  we  see  from  Table 
2,  that  the  average  gain  per  test  of  the  practised  boy 
in  the  11  tests  is  7.18  while  that  of  the  unpractised  boy 
is  2.13;  the  average  gain  per  test  of  the  practised  girl  is 
5.22,  that  of  the  unpractised  girl  only  .31  per  test. 

Table  3  shows  that  in  the  biological  tests,  the 
average  gain  of  each  practised  boy  was  8.06  per  test 
for  the  5  tests  while  the  unpractised  showed  a  gain  of 
3.03.  The  practised  girls  averaged  6.41  gain  per  test, 
while  the  unpractised  lost  1.24  per  test.  In  the  non- 
biological,  the  practised  girls  gained  6.2  per  test  for 
the  6  tests  while  the  unpractised  gained  5.6;  the  prac- 
tised boys  gained  8.97  per  test  and  the  unpractised 
boys  gained  only  5.37  per  test. 

In  Table  4,  based  on  the  original  ratings,  the  prac- 
tised boy  gained  4.3  per  test  to  the  unpractised's  gain 
of  3.02;  while  the  practised  girls  exhibited  a  gain  of 
3.72  to  the  unpractised  girls'  gain  of  1.22. 

Table  5  shows  that  at  the  end  of  Series  1,  when  the 
class  had  been  divided  into  practice  groups,  the  group 
of  unpractised  boys  had  a  total  score  23.17  higher 
than  the  practised,  while  the  unpractised  girls  had  a 
total  of  40.09  higher  than  their  opponents. 

Table  6  gives  the  ratings  of  the  pupils  in  their 
biological  class-work  and  shows  the  unpractised  boys 

111 


112  THE   DOCTKINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

to  excel  the  other  group  by  an  average  of  .23,  while 
the  practised  girls  surpass  their  fellow  competitors  by 
10.03  per  pupil. 

Table  7  shows  that  the  practised  boys  gained  in  13 
more  tests  and  the  practised  girls  in  16  more  tests 
than  their  opponents.  The  practice  boys  lost  in  7 
fewer  biological  tests  and  the  girls  in  16  fewer  biological 
tests  than  the  unpractised  side;  while  the  practised 
and  the  unpractised  boys  lost  in  the  same  number  of 
non-biological  tests  but  the  practised  girls  in  9  fewer 
than  the  opposite  side. 

It  is  evident  from  these  general  summaries  and  com- 
parisons that  the  practised  pupils  have  done  better 
in  the  second  and  third  series  than  the  unpractised. 
The  question  difficult  to  solve  is:  "What  is  the  cause?" 
No  doubt  growth,  familiarity  with  procedure,  benefits 
of  class-work  and  study,  and  desire  to  excel,  have  all 
contributed  their  share  toward  the  gain,  but  these  fac- 
tors may  have  aided  both  sides  equally.  We  have  no 
means  of  telling.     Then  why  the  difference? 

Judging  from  the  division  of  the  practice  groups,  the 
better  pui)ils  in  these  tests  were  on  the  unpractised 
side.  While  the  class  term  marks  showed  the  better 
boys  to  be  on  the  unpractised  side,  the  contrary  was 
true  as  far  as  the  girls  were  concerned.  The  March 
rating  showed  the  reverse  condition  of  affairs.  Very 
little  significance  can  be  attached  to  class  marks  as 
denoting  general  intelligence  or  superiority,  because 
so  many  extraneous  factors  enter  in. 

Considering  Table  3,  we  would  naturally  expect 
both  practised  boys  and  girls  to  earn  in  the  second 
series  a  bigger  gain  than  their  opponents  in  the  bio- 
logical tests;  but  how  shall  we  explain  their  greater 
efficiency  in  the  non-biological  tests,  other  than  to 
ascribe  it  to  the  effects  of  the  practice  series? 


CONCLUSIONS  113 

Feeling  that  the  balance  of  arguments  and  scientific 
proofs  were  against  formal  discipline  when  this  investi- 
gation was  begun,  I  am  forced  by  the  results  obtained 
to  admit  that  in  this  experiment,  the  proof  seems  to  be 
on  the  affirmative  side. 

A  valuable  lesson,  I  think,  can  be  drawn  from  one 
phase  of  this  investigation.  By  consulting  the  tables 
and  summaries,  it  will  be  seen  that  sometimes  one 
division  does  not  fall  in  line  with  the  general  trend,  but 
that  a  larger  number  outweighs  the  negative  and  shows 
positive  results.  This  would  warn  us  against  drawing 
conclusions  from  experimentation  with  too  few  sub- 
jects, as  has  been  done  in  several  of  the  investigations 
cited  in  the  historical  part. 

As  can  be  seen  by  the  averages  per  test  of  Tables  2 
and  4  the  boys  have  done  better  than  the  girls,  although 
the  curves  of  the  practice  series  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  girls  are  superior  in  that  series.  This  may  be 
ascribed  to  the  boys'  general  lack  of  intensive  applica- 
tion to  uninteresting  or  monotonous  work  but  it  is  likely 
that  greater  effort  was  put  into  the  shorter  tests  of  the 
three  series. 

COMPARISON  OF  RESULTS  WITH  THOSE 
OF  PEDAGOGICAL  EXPERIMENTS. 

Winch  found  that  boys  of  the  same  age  and  standard 
were  slightly  superior  to  girls  in  immediate  visual 
memory.  As  many  of  the  tests  of  this  experiment 
were  of  a  similar  type  to  those  of  Winch,  it  may  be 
stated  that  this  investigation  supports  Winch's  con- 
clusion. 

Winch  found  in  his  experiments  on  memory  that  a 
steady  improvement  was  shown  in  both  the  practised 


114  THE    DOCTRINE    OF   FORMAL   DISCIPLINE 

and  unpractised  groups  but  that  the  practised  group 
was  superior.  This  conforms  exactly  to  my  conclu- 
sions. 

In  his  experiments  on  the  ''transfer  of  numerical 
accuracy"  he  found  in  some  of  the  series  that  the  lower 
practised  side  after  practice  reversed  positions  with 
the  higher  unpractised.  This  investigation  gives  the 
same  results. 

Wallin  in  his  spelling  tests  found  that  his  ''data 
furnished  conclusive  evidence  in  favor  of  transfer." 

Starch  found  from  20  to  40  per  cent,  more  improve- 
ment in  the  practised  observers  in  arithmetical  opera- 
tions; and  ascribes  it  to  "identical  elements";  as  did 
Thorndike  and  Woodworth  in  their  investigations. 
Ruediger  found  evidences  of  transfer  in  his  tests  on 
ideals  and  ascribed  it  to  "identity  of  aims." 

In  our  own  investigation  there  are  certainly  conclu- 
sive evidences  of  transfer.  The  improvement  in  the 
biological  material  can  be  ascribed  to  "identical  ele- 
ments," but  the  "identity  of  aim"  and  "identity  of 
procedure"  and  "identical  elements"  were  common 
equally  to  both  sides,  except  for  the  advantage  for 
the  practised  in  the  biological  tests.  The  greater  in- 
crease of  the  practised  must  be  ascribed  to  some  in- 
tangible psychological  effects  of  practice. 

Thus  a  few  more  data  have  been  added  to  the  big 
problem  of  the  High  School  and  along  slightly  different 
lines  from  those  along  which  experimental  tests  have 
been  attempted  heretofore. 


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3.  Baglet,  W.  C.     Educational  Values.     N.  Y.,  1911. 

4.  Baglet,  W.  C.     Ideals  versus  Generalized  Habits.     School  and  Home 

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APPENDIX 

GRADUATES  OF  THE  HIGH  SCHOOL 

Class  I — Boys 

Practised 

Unpractised 

Garratt 

Weber 

*  Rhodius 

Class  I — Girls 

Wetjen 
Riconda 

*  Engels 

Manwaring 

Class  II — Boys 

*  Krumholz 
Ilch 

*  Howard 

Friedland 

*  Schuler 

HarteU 

t  Franklin 

Class  II — Girls 

*Rehm 

*  Blanc 

*  Inglis 

*  Wunder 

*Luft 

*  Geissen 

Rudolf 

Blumen 

*  Schreiner 

*Lutz 

Class  III — Boys 

Archimal 

Ruppel 

*  Cohen 

Class  III — Girls 

*  BaldelU 
CuUum 
Miethke 

*  Hacker 

*  Woodbury 

*  Busby 

Duffy 

Duro 


*  Graduated  Jan.,  1916. 
t  Graduated  June,  1915. 
Others  graduated  in  June,  1916. 


119 


120  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  FORMAL  DISCIPLINE 

Participants  in  Tests  Graduates 

34  boys  15  boys  44% 

50  girls  20  girls  40% 

Practised    Unpractised 

Boys  graduated  in  Jan.,  1916 2  2 

Boys  graduated  in  June,  1916 4  6 

Boy   graduated  in  June,  1915 1  0 

Totals 7  8 

Girls  graduated  in  Jan.,  1916 8  6 

Girls  graduated  in  June,  1916 3  3 

Totals 11  9 

The  commencement  program  furnished  the  list  of 
January  and  June  graduates. 

Of  the  original  84  pupils  in  the  tests,  35  have  gradu- 
ated; 40%  of  the  girls  and  44%  of  the  boys.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  18  were  in  the  practised  group 
and  17  in  the  unpractised,  thus  showing  that  on  the 
basis  of  graduation,  the  groups  were  nearly  evenly 
divided. 

Of  the  7  graduates  among  the  practised  boys,  1 
graduated  from  the  four-year  general  course  in  33^2 
years,  and  of  the  8  graduates  among  the  unpractised, 
1  graduated  from  the  three-year  co-operative  course  in 
4  years;  thus  indicating  a  still  more  even  division  of 
the  two  groups. 

Of  the  9  graduates  among  the  unpractised  girls  1 
graduated  from  the  three-year  household  arts  course 
in  4  four  years.  It  would  appear,  that  as  far  as  gradu- 
ation is  concerned,  the  better  girls  were  in  the  prac- 
tised group. 

These  general  deductions  fall  in  line  with  inferences 
made  heretofore.  It  would  be  futile,  however,  in  this 
connection  to  attempt  to  draw  any  conclusions  in 
regard  to  the  main  object  of  this  monograph. 


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